2 SEPTEMBER 1854, Page 16

• ll.ORRISON ON LABOUR AND CAPITAL. * IF instead of Labour

and Capital," in the title of this very ,able book,. the' author • had, written 4‘ Labourers and Capitalists,' he . would have given to his readers a-more vivid idea of Whet they would find in his work than he has now done, although perhaps i he would not have so accurately defined it. For Mr. Morrison s a Man whose sympathies are too warm to permit him to dwell in abstractionsi. nor can he mat. satisfied with enunciating and ita- proving . the .stern truths of political economy, IPS' Mind has moved onwards until it has (leceried a pass out of the gloomy Vale to 'which political economy at first sight appears to have consigned the multitude. But he never permits his philanthropy to get the better of his judgment.. "He-neither -diminishes nor conceals any part of the lat_which calls iipentlie masses in every.age, and will continue to ,ciall,iipon them, for the .eXeroise of seg-n,..joverninent both-active and passive—for labour and economy—for labour fre- quently passing beyond the limits of pleasurable action, and for economy imposing for _a time absolute restraint on pasSions to which the world of life from man•to the reptile owegitS•perpettia- • tion. let while accepting, provnig,..and,illustrating all these' conditions by well-considered-facts and itrefragable arguments, he shoe's that the future' of the labouring classes may' become as bright as that of their social Superiors. "If the labouring part Of the community 'were raised to the 'position which has beenhere attempted to, be represented, their condition would not onlYibe a great improvement upon their peeSenteircunistatees, but it would prcibably be, upon the whole and, for the Majority of-human characters, the condition most desh-ahle in ieself. That neither idleness, luxuries; nor ex- pensive vanities and taste, are re.clifiFnd hati-Pinettliat the Man who has corefortable diet, clothes and lcidgings,"treedomYrottroppression; and &moderate share of leisure and menns,for mental improvement, his is good a :chance of happiness as external circumstances can furnish. him with—are trite and adMitted maims, which are not the less true and important because they are,}pOred in most men's practice. Looking to man's animal structure, phisiologists would certainly pronounce that a very "considerable' amount muscular labour is conducive to its perfect action; and, looking to his dom.- ble 'nature, • it is hardly less Certain that much Occupation of the Icily: in useful labour is a great preventive or 'cure for manifold disorders of his moral bein. "

The spirit of the work may not inadecinately be gathered from , the following passage. .: . . . , - -. .: , - .I.

'If all that -political economy could do for the working chewea were to . demonstrate. the impossibility of elevating thoir con "Linn b :,attacks upon the preperty or interference with the free action/4e er classes, Sufi a ne- gative result, although very necessary to be establiek d, could not be &Beth- factory resting-place to the mind. Tlat thiritafetity Of every nation theirld - never roe considerably above the level of their:present condition; that there shairld always be nearly as much actual privation among the very poorest class at at present; . that the comparative comfort of the better-paid NS orliing ris should never become more secure and.compkte -, that the, elevating and re ning influence of mental culture should never become muchinore general; th t A large portion of the nation should Hie under constant liability to fall , into crime or gross vice from the pressure of want or the breaking 1.10%11 of the fences of self-respect and domestic decencies which guard other classes from the grosser forms of evil-deing—'would be a prospect not to be contem- plated by any with satisfaction; lea,st of all could it be satisfactory for these portions of the poorer classes who have begun to reflect Upon their position, • and to compare it with that of other daises. But there M no necessity The resting in any such negative conclusion ; -since the same fundamental truths respecting the laws determining the income of the working classes, which condemn many of the schemes proposed for increasing it, serve equally to in- dicate the means by which it may really be' augmented. I "This subject has in fact beeri.anticipated in the summary of the laws of' wages which was given in the seventeenth chapter. The increase of national capital, the regulation of population, inereased efficiency of the individual I workman, increased motives for his exertions, habits of saving, and the judi- cious employment of savings, impreVereent in the 'productiveness of labour,' and the maintenance of security and confidence, are the means by which the ' incomes of working men may be augmented ; and when the 'object sought is not simply the increase of their income, but the general- improvement of . their condition, habits of temperance, skilful and careful domestic, economy, ' and activity in the pursuit of knowledge,atertild be added, and should indeed be.place# at the head of the list."

.:11.8 regards the laws of wages,—a" subject' exceedingly well handled,--,we must confine ourselves to one extraCt on attempts for their artificial regulation. "Two things are essential to the system of fixing wages by regulation— a regulating authority, and a rule or principle for it to decide by.

'V.-An Essay on the Relations betyFeen Labour and Capital. By C. Morrison. Pub-

lished by Longman and Co. - - IL "Theionlyiltind'of mithevitylbriogillating 'wages which has :existed( this eountry *iecent tinietehae been that of the combinations of work4

formed for-the-purpose of dictating Wins to their employers.- But the gilt amount of evil'which these. have produced,-•by strikes and-in other 1 has led to the suggestion otother:arrangements for -the purpose. •

" One view;'which has been put leeward in the present day; is, that -term's- of the 'Connexion between the working men and their emplot should be adjusted by the friendly Mediation of indiVidnala not belongin either class, but accepted by both as 'arbitrators. According to this pl

the advantage of impartiality in the arbitration is to secured by intr ing the-regulation of the afileirs of each trade to men who know nothing ab it. Another is, that the same result should be sought by the appointme of committees consisting partly of workmen and partly of employers This would only be giving a somewhat different form to the direct disoussio of their respective interests between masters and men, which is at presen

found to be attended with so much difficulty. -

"But the difficulty of •Selecting the regulating authority is of .seconda importance compared to the impossibility of discovering rules by which i decisions are to be governed. • All proposal's for regulation must either pro- ceed upon the recognition of the principle that the market rate of wages, as fixed by the action of supPly and demand, is the only true standard ; or they must assume that sonic other measures should be substituted, which will give a different result. Iti the first case, every day's experience Of COM.. meretal transactions shows that the market rate of anything is SOOD found between buyer•atta teller, without the intervention of arbitrators, and much better than they could determine it If this is not At present the ease with respect to wages, the chief cause is to be found in the 'prejudices and aid- woollies which result from Use imperfe.ct recognition of the law of supply and demand itself. The remedy for these is, therefore, rather to be found in the diffusion of more correct views on the subject. If, on the other hand, the office of the mediators Is not to be confined to the 'enforcement of a mar- ket rate determined by supply and demand, but they are to be guided by some other rule, it is indispensable that these rules should be clearly ex- premed and agreed to by both parties before any confidence can be placed in such a mediation. It a certain that there is at present no such agreement in any rules of this kind ; and the next point to be considered is, whether

any such rules can be found: - -

" The very principle of regulation assumes that there is in each case some proper rate of wages which can be distinguished front all rates above and below it,.according to some definite rule : and the whole condition of the two great classes of workmen and capitalists, and the proper action' of the whole productive power of the community, would be dependent on the. right use otthe regulating pbwer,' if such were established,. Whatever- might- be its-nature. It is no leas' necessary that the community in • general should be satisfied that. the regulation. has been properly accomplished, than that it should have been so accomplished in fact ; for any contrary opinion would necessarily excite a sense of injustice and violent diseontent in the class which supposed itself injured by the decision. So- Jong as the principle is recognized, that the proper and only price of labour, like that of all other things, is Chet which it will naturally command in the market, this sense of injustice does not arise. But when it is believed that there is a different rate, which is the proper rate, and which is the duty of some controlling power to determine, the feeling of oppression to one class or another will arise when- ever it is believed that this power has not been coricetly exercised, The difficulty of finding any rules by which a natut al and .prOper stan- dard of wages may be established, cannot be understood by referring to the proceedings of the combinations of workmen in the present day. For their object, when they strike, or otherwise attempt to impose terms on their employers, is simply to obtain a certain amount of advance 011 the existing rates. Thus the oemand of the operatives in the cotton manufacture in the autumn of 1853 bas been for an advance of 10 per cent, or for a return to some rates alleged to have been formerly paid. They take the 'rate of wages,. which hes been previously established by competition, as a basis, and try to increase it to some percentage, to Which they suppose the Masters will submit as a less evil than the loss and inconvenience which they will sustain front, a strike. But if regulation is to be substituted for competi- tion as the primary law of wages, this course of proceeding will not be ap- plicable. No rata of wages established by competition , will any longer exist, and the proper rate must be found by some independent prin- ciple, sufficiently definite to lead in each case to a precise arithmetical result. No such principle has ever been suggested. No one, either among the working classes or in any other social position, has ever proposed, as-a-substitute for the natural operation, of the law' of supply and demand, any rule which would bring out a definite arithmetical result as the proper rate of wages under given conditions.- censures of the Pre- sent division of the produce of labour between te employer and the em- ployed, all attacks upon employers for not paying more than the rate which competition imposes on then], assume that there is some natural rate, dif- ferent from theactual market rate. But this natnral rate is referred to in too general terms to furnish any practical rule. Such phrases as 'a fair day's wages for a fair day's work,' 'a fair and reasonoble division, between the employers and the employed, are the kind of expressions usually em- ployed in these cases. But these assume that the rule is already found. They furnish no assistance towards the discovery of it. The Market rate of average .wages depends, as has been seen, on the proportion betvfeen the total amount of the funds applicable to the employment of labour at any moment and the total number of working persons at the same time. The subdivision of these funds among different classes of labourers depends on proportions as definite, though more complicated. These definite proportions between different quantities necessarily lead to definite numerical results. To arrive at these by calculation, would indeed transcend the power of hu- man intelligence and knowledge. But the competition of the market brings edt retults in accerdanee with them Without any calculation at all. ' If any artificial regulation of wages is to be substituted, it mat not only -be founded on.proportiona between quantities equally definite with the above, but it must be within the ability of the regulating authorities to ascertain these with exactness,and to follow them out to their results in the precise

amount of every man's weekly wages." .

Our space doeS not permit us to enter into the 'Means whereby the masses are to be brought into 'a better position. The broad leison which Mr. Morrison teaches is, that while the rich Must do all that they can by way of example; instruction; sympathy, and encouragement, yet the result of the enterprise will essentially de- pend on the masses themselves. Mr. Morrison is favourable to limited partnerships; and to cooperation ; although he fears the difficulties attendant on both systems, and the high qualifications required in all engaged' in them to command success,' Will long rdate them comparatively inefficient instruments of progress. He dOei not conceal that progress must and will-be slow. •

"The limit of the imprOrMient to Witich the Working population of this countr3r, may attain by the use - of the 'weeny/thick are within 'their own power .urthat, which is impoeed/bythenatikre of things. The„eutreme theo- retical limit of increase of their earnings,. it the ;Productiveness ot.theirla- he rs to n, st- ut

it

bouravtbeipertichlortinoe 4144,0400 te!while4110.44Sfingtie Witikivihie4, ,t4T ean opeown this dintitetn ipreetice, slellettd*upett;: 110,NeelPattlete9e et 5 eePir , tat in..theneuntry, tegetheffwitil theaherelYhl9,44 ttY waY.14341,8Pk,!eli..44% acq vire& in iN•by -habits- of ,easing an .skilfal ena ..oyineet of them,saFings,, To the progressive improvement of the produetivenese 04 lphour.no limit can be aseigned byes : as i. .has contented to the prffient moment, ,ans pre- baby progressing at least .tte4api4ly in nor own generation as in a;s9 etber of the jog. 6ories of generations whieh base preceded it, it-is not,u4rea40117 able toeupposethat it will,rontinueand be.carried in future those to itinuch greater length than we can at nresent foresee ; and that in this way Ole limit of improvemantin the' .pbysieal condition of thelabouriug population-may be raisedinueli. higher than at present. •. Their,approximation to thislimit, by a-process -depending upon, themselves, must,-it is trio, be gracluair anti Aviltrequire much more than one. generation. for its entire accomplishnient.. Bathes, is the ease-with all beneficiel agencies, whenever the results are to 1 be both great and durable. It is given treman to do great inisoliief quickly, 1 and at a single stroke;:betto do .great good slowly,. end by repeated efforts.- [ A destructive revolution may beta-sudden as a volcano.;: butthe erinaneut.' elevation of • a class,•comprising the majority of a nation, must. be gradnal,.

like the rise and-consolidation of continents.F' . . -

Mr. Morrisoni-we happen to -know, has taken an active part-in his father's very extensive conniaercial affairs, both at home anti in the United-States; and fe the .qiialilications of sound scholarship and an intimate acquaintance with the science of political economy, he therefore -adds what. operates as a touchstone. to speculative knowledge, -and is .only'possessed by those who .have encountered the difficulties and dangers Of commercial life, and who have been called upon to assiiine the responsibility of reducing theory to prac. tice. Those portions of his book which regard . the .United States, area:great value, -thamore so as his views are frequently:new-to the English reader. Emigration, which by•its recent development is become a very iniportant feature in political ecenomy, has -not been forgotten by our author in its effect on the labour-market, and in its power to alleviate in some degree the restraint regarding marriage which presses so hardly upon young adults of :the-labour-

.

ing class who are governed by prudent forethought- We doubt, however, whether he has estimated this great expedient at its fall value. .

Passing to one of the channels of emigration, Mr. Morrison is of opinion that the drain from Ireland to America is not likely to be soon dried up. 'With a passage on this topic we close our frag- mentary notice. • .

"It does not seem probable that there will be a very great diminution in the desire to emigrate; for some time to come. The largest part of the an nual emigration from the I.Tnited Kingdom has been that from Ireland. Ac- cording to the repoits of persons donversant with the state of men's ruinds-hr Ireland, th

the belief that emigration' particularly emigration to the United Stat i

es, s e one desirable course for every man Who 'cae in any way ac7 coinplish it, prevails throughout the mass of the nation. Notwithstanding theimprovement which has commenced in Ireland Within the last few years, the difference in the rate of wages and the proSpealsef adVanceruent between that country and the -United States, is still so very great that there is a very adequate motive for this general desire for removal to the latter country. This disposition is greatly fostered by the immente' number of persons of Irish birth or Irish descent who are already in the 'United -States., This element in the American nation is reckoned by millions, and it is sufficiently influential to, command respect and flattery from those who aim at political

importance' in the Republic. . .

A native of Connaught or Munster landing at New York,-does not feel himself in a Strange laud. Ile will be welcomed on the quay by country- men, probably by relations, and hear the Irish accent on every side: He Will find the Irish vote turning the scale at elections in favour of the Democratic party, and frith refugees raving against England as furiously Mid-. ir rationally as if thy were still enjoying impunity 'underan English (intern- ment. Irish pigs'Welking, the streets of the City, in all the inaniunity frOni police interferenee-gtanted to animals whose 'owners have vcites in the city' election, -Will rdinindtiin of the pigs at 'home, who were allewed the best place in the cabin because they paid the refit.. Archbishop Ft-tithes, contend- ing against the use of the Bible in the Common Schools of New York, will appear to him very Mach like Archbishop M'Hale, disputing vriththe Board et-National Schools ; and'be may heie the good fortune to take'pert in 'hn Irish riot, which will agreeably recall to his recollection the riots With*bieli he was familiar at home. It is true that his licenee -of speaking add acting. in :the Democratic flepublie, although great,- will fall considerably short of firkin whiCh he was indulged tinder the ' brutal'and blood); Saxon tyranny.' Ile will have to speak very civilly of everYthing /Valerian ;1 'tti be measured in his attacks against Protestantism and -IcroteStarits : and his favourite' ora- tors, after indignant oratoridal appeals to Americanata extirpate slavery and oppression all over the World, May have to appease the jealonsy of the slave-, bolding Democrats' of the South by a very expreas declaration that their re- marks applied exclusively to iniagitiary and metaphorienl!shivery in the Old World, and did net iiiipfy any dislike of real and legal slavery in the N. Still, notwithstanding these drawbacks, he may tii. a great extent--find or make a Tipperary wherever he goes, but a Tipperary of high wages and with-

oat landlords." . .