The rock on which most such schemes have shattered has been that in their blind effort at mutuality they have overlooked the prime import of individuality――the freedom and autonomy of each member. It should never be forgotten that the only value of any scheme of association is the development of the individual. Any society which does not make this its first and clearly announced purpose is doomed to a deserved failure. There is no sentiment in such associations. They classify men like bricks or boxes, according to the externals or accidents of their professions or places. They pay no heed to personality beyond the one element in it which they are formed to take cognizance of. For that very reason they are apt to demand disproportionate sacrifices for this, and to encroach on liberty by unjust demands on the member’s time, labor, leisure, or money. They are liable to reach a point where the benefits they confer are not worth the sacrifices they require. This is the history of many labor unions in the United States, and it is the characteristic of all the so-called socialistic schemes for improving society. In all of them society is looked upon as paramount to the individual, instead of the individual as paramount to society; whereas, his development is that alone for which society has any right to exist. Comradeship differs from Fellowship as social does from business life. In it there is no question of interests in common, but only of tastes in common――a mutuality which exists often to the sad injury of interests. Comrades are birds of a feather, who assemble because they resemble――in accordance with the French proverb, _Qui se rassemblent, s’assemblent_. They all like dogs, or whist, or yachts, or music, or old books, or four-in-hands, or spectral analysis,――any of the occupations of choice which are pursued for the pleasure they yield. In modern life this form of Association has largely taken the place of Friendship as it was understood by the ancients. It is better adapted to the bustle and scurry of these days, when the busy worker has not time to cultivate the amenities of sentiment, but desires to find others who share his favorite tastes, and a ready-made sympathy which he need not be at the trouble of looking after, but which is always at hand when he wants it. This he finds in such comradeships, where each comes because he has likings similar to the others, and is therefore sure to be a pleasant arrival. Each thus gratifies his own taste and increases its capacity for gratification; for tastes are like magnets,――the more they are used the stronger becomes their power of attraction.