The National Being: Some Thoughts on an Irish PolityRussell, George William
Philosophy
The National Being: Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity
Russell, George William
Cooperation; Ireland -- Economic conditions; Ireland -- Politics and government
He reverts to the cheapest
methods of farming when prices are low, or labor asks a wage which the
farmer believes it would be unprofitable to pay. In this way pressure
on the farmer for extra wages might result in two men being employed
to herd cows where a dozen men were previously employed at tillage.
The farmer cannot easily--as the mine-owner--unload his burden on the
general public by the increase of prices. There are many difficulties,
which seem almost insoluble, if we propose to ourselves to integrate the
rural laborer into the general economic life of the country by making
him a partner in the industry he works on. But what I hope for most
is first that the natural evolution of the rural community, and the
concentration of individual manufacture, purchase and sale, into
communal enterprises, will lead to a very large co-operative ownership
of expensive machinery, which will necessitate the communal employment
of labor. If this takes place, as I hope it will, the rural laborer,
instead of being a manual worker using primitive implements, will have
the status of a skilled mechanic employed permanently by a cooperative
community. He should be a member of the society which employs him, and
in the division of profits receive in proportion to his wage, as the
farmers in proportion to their trade.
A second policy open to agricultural labor when it becomes organized
is the policy of collective farming. This I believe will and ought to
receive attention in the future. Co-operative societies of agricultural
laborers in Italy, Roumania, and elsewhere have rented land from
landowners. They then reallotted the land among themselves for
individual cultivation, or else worked it as a true co-operative
enterprise with labor, purchase and sale all communal enterprises, with
considerable benefit to the members. We can well understand a landowner
not liking to divide his land into small holdings, with all the
attendant troubles which in Ireland beset a landlord with small farmers
on his estate. But I think landowners in Ireland could be found who
would rent land to a co-operative society of skilled laborers who
approached the owner with a well-thought-out scheme. The success of one
colony would lead to others being started, as happened in Italy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account