The following Papers were read: 1. Labour and Capital.-Their Differences and how to Reconcile them. By C. H. PERKINS. The appointment of a Royal Commission for the purpose of inquiry into the causes of the constantly occurring disputes between Labour and Capital, is an additional proof of the extreme gravity of the question. The results of that inquiry it would be unwise to predict. That much valuable information will be obtained there is no doubt, but it will afterwards rest with practical men to use that information to advantage and in furtherance of the objects in view. Thus, even while the Commission is sitting, there is ample scope and a most useful field for thought and inquiry. The causes that have produced the present state of things are readily to be understood. Employers, as a rule, and very naturally, have sought to secure labour at the lowest possible cost; and so long as they held absolutely the upper hand, disputes could not long continue, and there would be no impediment to the progress of the country in wealth, industry, and commerce, however much the philanthropist, and indeed the political economist, might have reason to deplore the subservience of the working classes and their deprivation of much of the true enjoyments and happiness of life. But now an enormous alteration has taken place, through the spread of education, a cheap press, ready and cheap means for emigration, and the power of combination by means of trade and other unions. Thus the forces of labour and capital are equalised, and strikes and disputes have become protracted and dangerous, and the necessity of some mode of identifying the respective interests of labour and capital, and of promptly settling disputes when they do arise, is rendered absolutely necessary. While much has been said and written as to the identity of the interests of labour and capital, it is apparent that capital has in some respects a preferential claim. Such claim includes interest for its use and its eventual return to the investor. The power to labour is, on the other hand, the workman's capital, and for its use he is entitled to wages at current rates, and, as that power is an exhaustive one, its possessor should be recouped, so far as possible, for its expenditure. But as regards capital, the money invested can only, as a rule, be refunded if success attends the undertaking in which it is embarked, while the workman, after receiving wages at current rates, can, if he likes, remove to other scenes of labour, and thus incurs no risk of loss beyond the expenditure of a certain amount of his physical strength. Before, therefore, profits can be regarded as having been attained, interest at a rate depending upon the nature of the undertaking must be paid, and also a certain annual sum, or a percentage on the profits, for redemption of capital. These preferential claims being provided for, it is proposed that all further profits or income be divided between capital and labour in the proportion that the amount invested and employed as working capital bears to the collective amount paid annually in wages. Thus, presuming a colliery, for example, has cost and employs capital to the extent of 20,000l. and that the interest is 5 per cent., and the charge for redemption 2 per cent., 1,500l. per annum out of the profits would thus be paid to the investors. Presuming that the annual profits were 5,2001., there would be a residue of 3,7001. for division between capital and labour. If the latter, as represented by the wages paid, amounted to 20,000l., half of this residue of 3,700l., that is, 1,850., would accrue to labour and half to capital. Thus, presuming a man's annual earnings amounted to 661. he would receive a bonus of 5l. 188. 8d. per annum. Capital would really lose nothing by this apparent surrender, for it would first receive interest at fair rates and redemption, and secondly the immunity from strikes and stoppages; and the additional care and economy that would be shown by the workmen would probably more than make up for the amount paid to them. In all these co-operative undertakings the workmen would be invited to select three or more of their body to act as Workmen's Directors,' and consult with the employers upon all matters connected with the work and wages of the undertaking. In this way careful supervision would be exerted, and bad and careless workmen speedily got rid of. To establish this system it is necessary that it receive official recognition. The men will not believe in it if it merely appears as a gift on the part of the employers. Thus it is necessary that registration offices should be established by Government in convenient localities, where these co-operative undertakings would be registered, the main particulars as to capital, interest, &c., being stated, and each half-year the amount paid in wages and the profits made. Attached to each registration office there would be commissioners, men of known standing in their respective districts, and these would form a Board of Appeal to which any labour disputes that might arise could be referred. The importance and advantage of such a Board cannot be overestimated. Disputes that now ripen into long and protracted strikes would be settled at once and great loss prevented. It is appropriate that this scheme should be considered in the great theatre of labour where the British Association this year meets for the prosecution of the great and beneficent objects that it so powerfully advances. 2. On the Coal Question. By T. FORSTER BROWN, M.Inst.C.E. After referring to various writers on the subject, the writer proceeded to discuss the probable duration of our total coal resources. This depends upon whether the ratio of increase in production will continue to ascend or diminish. It will probably be a decreasing ratio for the following reasons:- 2. The earlier developed coalfields already show a retarded rate of output. 3. The working of thinner seams will further reduce the output capacity. This would make it appear that the total exhaustion of coal, if the Report of the Royal Commission of 1871 is to be relied upon, is in no way imminent; but, as the coal is worked in thinner seams and greater depth, the cost of producing it, after a certain period, will begin probably to steadily increase. The writer exemplified the retarded rate of output of the earlier coalfields. The maximum output may probably be reached in twenty-five years, and continue for another twenty-five years. After this period a new element in the commercial position of the nation, viz., the greatly enhanced cost of fuel, will commence to be felt. This increased cost will be partially obviated for a time by reduction in the rate of wages, and of prices for materials, as well as in royalties and other charges, but it will be impossible to maintain the cost of production at the present limits. As the expansion of our industries is absolutely dependent on a low range in the cost of fuel, the effect of an increased cost will begin to manifest itself, and will operate first of all on our carrying trade. We are now able to export large quantities of coal, which acts as ballast, receiving in return all, or nearly all, the raw material required for our manufactures, as well as a large proportion of our food supplies, at low freights. With coal at an increased price, we shall have to pay a higher price for our raw material, and this, with the increased cost for steam, must raise the cost of producing our manufactured goods, and limit our power of competing with other countries, leading to a continuance of bad trade, with shorter intervals of prosperity, to the transfer of much of our capital and investments abroad, the loss of that which remains, and to the lowering of wages and the emigration of the best of the working classes. Present importance of our industries illustrated by statistics. The mere loss of capital, though serious, will not be of prime importance to future generations, but outlay, for the redemption of which no provision has been made during the period of continuous prosperity, and on which interest must be paid, will be a crushing burden. This will especially apply to 1. The National Debt. 2. Our railways and docks. 3. Our municipal debts. 4. Our water and lighting works. The interest upon this capital, with continued bad trade, must inevitably ultimately lead to national bankruptcy, and probably fundamental social changes, unless the capital is paid off. It is obviously the duty of this, and the next, generation to devise means, if possible, of repaying the great expenditure incurred in the development of our resources; before these exceptional resources are exhausted the expenditure would never have been necessary in a purely agricultural country or in a country in which the coal resources were inferior in quality or costly to work. Remedy. The writer suggests that the remedy is the acquirement by the State of the railways, docks, municipal and other loans, and of all lighting and water works, and the liquidation of the National Debt. By this means the cost of carriage of coal, of passengers, and goods, could ultimately be reduced to the mere cost of maintenance and working, the total amount of the purchase by the State being gradually extinguished by the operation of a sinking-fund. The total charge for the National Debt is at the present moment 25,000,000l.; the profits on railways, docks, and canals are about 39,817,000l. per annum, and should it be possible to purchase for the nation all the above, and to extinguish the capital by the operation of a sinking fund, the total gain to the nation would ultimately be 60,000,000l. per annum. This sum would cover a very large increased cost in the price of coal, and go a great way towards enabling the nation to maintain its commercial position, so long as our coal resources endure. The paper further discussed the probable mode in which the nation could acquire the railways without involving a large annual outlay, and winds up with some general observations upon the whole question, and points out that the time has arrived when the subject requires serious legislative investigation. 1. 'Miners' Thrift and Employers' Liability: a Remarkable Experience.' By GEORGE L. CAMPBELL, Secretary of the Central Association for Dealing with Distress caused by Mining Accidents. The thrift dealt with in Mr. Campbell's paper was that embodied in the system of miners' permanent societies, which was commenced about thirty years ago in the north of England, and has steadily grown until it now represents the chief voluntary endeavour to meet the distress arising from the dangerous vocation of mining. The liability of employers was chiefly that set up by the Employers' Liability Act of 1880; and the principal question submitted to the section was as to the desirableness on grounds of public policy of legislation suggested for the ourpose of hindering miners and their employers entering into arrangements 1891. 3 B whereby, in view of the existing law, they jointly provide against all the casualties incidental to their trade. The words, 'contracting out of the Act,' were advisedly set aside as not representing fairly the arrangements now prevailing, and it was contended that the existing contracts are in view of the Act, and are the result of legislation rather than an attempt to evade its provisions. The history of colliery clubs having been lightly touched upon, the paper set out the progress of the movement for establishing permanent funds, one of whose chief objects is to remove the anomaly as to fatal accidents, whereby when men were killed in large numbers subscriptions provided for their dependents, but when men died singly there was no attempt to elicit public help. When representatives of the societies met in conference for the first time in 1878, the total membership was 90,000, and a central association was formed, at whose conference this year (1891) were represented societies with an aggregate membership of 268,971; with a revenue of 242,6587.; with accumulated funds amounting to 367,2937.; with 2,395 widows and 3,842 children in receipt of allowances, and having in the year 1890 dealt with 39,411 cases of disability through accident. The increase of membership from 1889 to 1890 was over 30,000. Mr. Campbell proceeded to show what had been done in view of the Employers' Liability Act in the coalfields having permanent societies, and it appeared that at December, 1890, there were 110,973 of the members of the permanent societies under arrangement with their employers, the general principle being that the masters contributed 25 per cent. on the contributions of the men. The remarkable experience referred to in the title of the paper had special reference to Monmouthshire and South Wales, where the society was formed after the Act of 1880 was passed. It was now second in point of numbers of the permanent societies, and had 52,760 members. Add to these 12,978 members of the North Wales society, the 44,824 of Lancashire and Cheshire, and a small contingent of North Staffordshire, and then let the question be squarely put-was it possible that, in view of the powerful agitation maintained in and out of Parliament since 1880, these 110,973 men could have been forced into an arrangement or by force could be kept under an arrangement with their employers? No more than they could coerce a nation could they coerce 110,000 men who stood almost shoulder to shoulder from Cumberland to Cornwall, and who had shrewdly made the Act of 1880 the means of making provision for all accidents-not only those for which the employer is legally responsible and those caused by the workman's inadvertence, but for that great proportion of disasters for which neither masters nor men could be held accountable. Elaborate statistics were appended to the paper, from which Mr. Campbell said it would not be difficult to ascertain how much had been lost to the sufferers from accident in the mining community by reason of there not being general combination between masters and men for their mutual insurance and benefit. The tables of figures answered the question whether monetary considerations hindered safe management; and especially was this the case as to North Wales, where, with a most compact organisation of employers and employed in view of the Act, there had since its passing been a steady reduction in the number of accidents. It was contended that the miners' permanent societies ought not to be disturbed, and that, while the Legislature should be encouraged to make the Act of 1880 permanent and to prohibit contracts based alone on consideration of employment, contracts should be permitted and encouraged which made provision for all accidents as sufficient as the Act gave in cases where the employers were liable. The risk was an insurable one, and the Legislature were not likely to hinder a man insuring against an insurable risk; nor was it reasonable to say that while it might be covered by a proprietary company it ought not to be available business for a concern in which the parties interested were proprietors with the profits returned to them. Since the select committee of 1886 received evidence the number of contracts in view of the Act had increased by no less than 38,000 in mining alone. Every year strengthened the position of those who contend that in this matter freedom of contract should be maintained, coupled with reasonable security against the workmen being placed at a disadvantage; and the object of the paper would be served if it assisted in maturing public opinion in the direction of hindering the Legislature striking a severe blow at a system of thrift which had admirably served its purpose, and which, by reason of its excellent work among a class who suffer greatly for the public good, had strong claim for consideration at the hands of the nation at large. 2. State Provision against Sickness and Old Age, and the German Invalidity and Superannuation Law. By LOUIS TYLOR. The writer proposed to present the German law in an English dress and draw a slight sketch of what would be the experience of English workpeople were we to adopt the principle of State insurance in our own way of doing things by combining officialism with voluntaryism in much the same way as we have already dealt with education and military service. Among the proposed modifications of the German system are the adoption in England of a uniform standard of relief, in place of the fourfold classification according to wages which prevails in Germany, and the substitution of sixty-five years for seventy years as the limit of superannuation. Other readjustments are enumerated under several heads. The total cost of the scheme is estimated at 1s. 3d. per week, which the writer apportions between employers and employed. Further information has increased the estimate to 18. 5d. per week. 3. On Some Economic Aspects of Life Assurance. By JOHN M. MCCANDLISH, F.R.S.E., formerly President of the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland. After referring to the growing interest of the public in this subject and to the fact that to Life Assurance are due the existence and the security of tens of thousands of families, the author defined Life Assurance as being, like Fire or Marine or Accident Insurance, a means of mitigating the pecuniary loss arising from an accident by distributing it among the many who are liable to the like accident, the accident in this case being that of premature death. The paper proceeded to show among other things that legitimate life insurance was the antithesis of gambling, and that the real gambler is he who refuses or delays to insure his life when he has no other means of providing for his family; while Insurance Institutions or Governments or Municipal Bodies gamble if they conduct insurance or annuity schemes on unsound principles. It was needful also to recognise that the advantages of life assurance must be paid for, and that while every man gets what he has paid for, namely, protection against loss to his family in case of his premature death, in another sense the advantage to the families of those who die soon must be paid for by those who live long. And in the case of annuities the advantages to those who live long must be paid for by those who die soon. The paper dealt with the question to which Canon Blackley, and more lately Mr. Chamberlain, have invited attention-of how 'the masses' can be induced or compelled or assisted to provide for their own old age, so as to escape the degradation of pauperism and relieve the country of the cost of it. It was shown that by an extension and a popularising of the existing arrangements by which Government sells deferred annuities it might be made easy for almost every member of the so-called 'working-classes' to secure by means of payments well within his power, and extending over a limited number of years, a sufficient income for himself in old age. It was recommended that the necessary facilities should be given and a staff of men employed to promote the scheme, leaving it for future consideration whether any form of compulsion, as has been proposed, or any further inducements should be used to ensure its universal adoption. It was pointed out at the same time that any large contribution out of public funds towards this object, unless it could be shown to be for the benefit of taxpayers universally, would be simply an arbitrary transfer of money from the pockets of those who would derive no advantage from the scheme to the pockets of other people. |