24 SEPTEMBER 1864, Page 22

employers of workmen get the credit of their work. He

thinks the workman's name ought to be appended to his work, so that when we have a beautifully carved chimney-piece, for instance, the man who designed and wrought it should have the credit of it, and not the firm who employ him. So far_every one will agree with him, but we con- fess to being quite unable to understand what his scheme for effecting this object is. The revival of mediaeval guilds, that is, of bodies enjoying a legal monopoly, is impracticable, and indeed we doubt if Mr. Hope means that. If not the guilds must be voluntary associations, and in some sense compete with the great firms, for it is not one workman in ten thousand who has capital enough to deal directly with the public. But then Mr. Hope has a fit of shaking whenever he thinks of a trades- union. That nevertheless is what he must look to for elevating the condition of workmen, and mast destroy their socialist theories by giving them more knowledge of the laws of political economy.