Another difficulty with such companies is, that they rarely have enough
capital, and, when bad trade comes, they are unable to bear the losses
which will sometimes occur for several years in succession. They can
borrow money by the mortgage of the buildings and machinery belonging to
the company, and this is usually done; but no banker will give credit to
such companies without the security of fixed property. Thus they
frequently fail when bad trade comes, and those who buy up their
property cheaply reap advantage. It is to be hoped that at a future time
all working-men will become capitalists on a small scale, and when
education and experience have been acquired, co-operative factories of
working-men may succeed. At present it would be better to leave the
management of business in the hands of capitalists, who are not only
experienced and clever men, but have the best reason to be careful and
active, because their fortunes depend upon success.
#63. Providence.# It is most deeply to be regretted that the
working-people of England will not, for the most part, see the necessity
of saving a portion of their wages in order to have something to live
upon when trade is bad, or when ill-health and misfortune come upon
them. Too many working-men's families spend all that is earned while
trade is brisk, and when employment fails they are as badly off as ever.
#There are several distinct reasons why every man or woman should save
up some property when possible#:--
(1) It forms a provision in case of ill-health, accident, want of
employment, or other misfortune; it is also wanted for support in old
age, or for the helpless widow and orphans of a workman who dies
early.
(2) It yields interest, and adds to a workman's income.
(3) It enables a man to go into trade, to buy good tools, and to
enjoy good credit in case he sees an opportunity of setting up
business on his own account.
No man and no woman, who is in the prime of life and earning fair wages,
should spend the whole. Even an unmarried person will generally reach a
time of life when, through ill health, old age, or other unavoidable
causes, it is no longer possible to get a living. By that time enough
ought to have been saved to avoid the need of charity or the degradation
of the poor-house. When there is a wife and young family, the need of
saving is evidently greater still. Every great storm, colliery
explosion, or other great accident leaves a number of helpless children
to be brought up by a struggling widow, or to go on the parish. No doubt
people may meet with disasters so unexpected and so great that they
cannot be blamed for not providing against them. A man who is blinded,
or crippled, or otherwise disabled in early life, is a proper object of
charity, but there would be plenty of benevolent institutions to provide
for such exceptional cases, if those who are more fortunate would
provide properly for themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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