it fulfils what I venture to think are the most important conditions of that method of industry: there is associated effort; there is common interest in the results of the work; and these results depend, subject to the natural conditions of the case, and the customary qualification of the strict contract just indicated, directly on the energy, skill, and mutual good faith with which the workers perform their part. It has also been said that the "contractors" advance a portion of the capital; but I should not be disposed to attach much importance to this as a distinctive feature of the "contract system;" for, though as a matter of fact the men who take part in contracts have generally accumulated some little capital, and though this circumstance no doubt facilitates in some degree their proceedings in carrying out the undertaking, still the possession of capital does not by any means constitute an indispensable condition to becoming a contractor, it being always easy for a man of good character to obtain the requisite tools and materials on credit from small shopkeepers established in the quarrying districts, and established chiefly with a view to supplying such needs. The

only item of capital which in practice the contractor is in the habit of advancing is the money expended on his own support during the monthly interval that elapses before the returns to his industry come in; and, so far as this is concerned, the "germyn" whom he employs a labourer at fixed wages has an equally valid title to take rank as a capitalist; the earnings of the "germyn" being also postponed for the same period of time. The value of the experiment, therefore, and that which entitles it to be regarded as an example of "co-operative" industry, lies, in my opinion, in the other conditions to which I have referred-in the fact that the system enlists working men in a joint undertaking, of which the results for them depend in large part on the skill, energy, and conscientious zeal with which it is carried through.

And now let us endeavour to appre

ciate the bearing of these conditions on the well-being of the quarrying community. We shall consider in the first place the position of the contractor, who, as I have already said, represents about a third of the whole quarrying population. He will not, of course, for a moment be confounded with the important and generally wealthy personage by whom our railways and great public works are carried on. The latter, a capitalist pure and simple, has no other relations with the actual workers than that of paymaster. But the contractor of the slate quarries is himself a manual worker-generally, indeed, a skilled worker, taking to himself the more difficult processes of the undertaking, but still in the strictest sense a working man-working in the same place, and often at the same operation, as the labourer whom he employs, and socially in no respect his superior. But, though a manual labourer, our contractor is also something very different from the ordinary labourer for hire. His remuneration is no fixed sum, but depends upon the success of his exertions, which he has therefore the strongest interest to increase to the utmost. Nor, again, is he to be confounded with the labourer at task-work. In the first place, the undertaking in which he embarks is of an altogether more important character than any that falls to the lot of the ordinary task-work labourer. Before he commits himself to his engagements, a calculation, not altogether free from complication-requiring, besides an acquaintance with arithmetic, and a tincture of mathematics, some practical knowledge of the different qualities of certain rocks-must be performed. Then the undertaking itself comprises several distinct operations-quarrying, cleaving, dressing-the carrying out of which, effectively and economically, calls for deliberation, forethought, and or ganising skill. Again, the contractor, while a labourer himself, is also a purchaser of the labours of others, holding towards his "germyn" the position of a capitalist proper, and is thus led to look at the business of production in

some degree from the point of view of an employer-a circumstance which may go some way in accounting for the noteworthy fact, that in the districts of the slate quarries strikes are unknown. Lastly, and to this I attach the greatest importance of all, the contractor is a member of a partnership, acquiring rights and incurring responsibilities in relation to his fellow-contractors, taking part in their labours on equal terms, sharing their anxieties, and interested in common with them in the ultimate result of their common efforts.

is

But the influence of the arrangements I have described is not limited to the class which comes immediately under their operation. A circumstance which gives especial importance to the status of the contractor in the slate quarry that, placed as nearly as possible midway between the position of the ordinary labourer and that of the capitalist pure and simple, it forms an easy steppingstone for the elevation of the masses from the precarious position of dependence upon the general labour-market-a position which, if there be value in experience, is absolutely incompatible with any substantial and permanent improvement of their state.

The mode in which the ascent is made will be illustrated by a remark made to the writer by the lessee of the Dolwydellan slate quarry-a gentleman to whose kindness he is indebted for most of the information contained in this paper. In reply to a question with reference to a difference in the rates of wages prevailing in different localities, he observed that the men before us would be very slow to leave their present occupation even for the prospect of a considerable advance in their wages"because," he explained, pointing to a large quarry hole filled with water, "so

position, their attainment of which, however, depends entirely on their success in recommending themselves to the favourable consideration of the owner of the quarry as well as to that—an equally important condition-of their own fellow-workmen, without whose approval and co-operation they would hope in vain to take advantage of the opportunities which are daily opening. Even the less important class of workmen, they who are employed in clearing away refuse, also pass occasionally into the ranks of the quarriers proper, and ultimately into those of the contractors, and thus feel in some degree the stimulus which such prospects supply. The whole society is thus kept constantly under the incentive of the public opinion of the élite among its own members a state of things which serves to diffuse throughout the entire organization an influence of the healthiest kind.

Nor has the beneficent tendency of these arrangements failed to become effectual in the actual condition of the population of the slate quarries. Their ordinary earnings, according to information supplied to me from various sources, may be set down as follows:

For carters of refuse from 12s. to 178. per week. For "germyns" (quarriers at fixed wages, many of whom are mere boys), 12s. to 20s. per week.

In the case of the contractors the variations are much more considerable; the results ranging from 31. to 8l., and occasionally to 107. per month. In a small quarry near Dolwydellan which I visited, three contractors had just concluded a "bargain," in which they had netted for the month of July the sum of 91. each. On the whole, so far as I could make out, the earnings of the contractors average something like 51. monthly.

These rates are, I should suppose, about equal to those prevailing in corresponding occupations-I mean occupations in which the toil, risk, and skill are about the same-in the most favoured industrial districts in England; and such a result is surely very creditable

For

to the industrial system of Wales. it must be remembered that capital is very far from increasing with the same rapidity in Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire as in, say, Lancashire and Staffordshire; while, on the other hand, owing to the general ignorance of the English language which prevails in the former counties-a circumstance which cannot but operate in some degree as an impediment to emigration-the relief afforded by this safety-valve to the labour market there, is likely to be considerably less than in other portions of the United Kingdom. The external conditions affecting wages in the Welsh counties are therefore decidedly less favourable than they are in the more progressive districts of England; and yet the labouring classes in the former localities are, it seems, comparing analogous modes of labour, equally well off. The explanation, as will be anticipated, is to be found in the slower movements of population in the Welsh districts. In Carnarvonshire population advanced in the decade, 1851 to 1861, at the rate of 9 per cent. ; in Merionethshire at the rate of 3 per cent. ; in both counties at an average rate of 6 per cent. ; while over the whole of England and Wales population during the same period went forward at the average rate of 12 per cent. and in the more prosperous parts of the country-say Lancashire and Staffordshire-at the rates respectively of 20 per cent. and 23 per cent.1

1 I do not give these figures as accurate exponents of the relative growth (by way of natural increase) of population in the several districts. No doubt the results in all instances have been much modified both by emigration and by migration within the limits of Great Britain. So far as the former cause is concerned, the probability is, for the reason stated, that, could its effect be ascertained (unfortunately the emigration reports do not distinguish the natives of Wales), the result would be considerably to strengthen my case. And, as regards the latter, though there is no doubt a considerable Welsh movement towards the manufacturing centres of England, this proceeds in the main from the agricultural districts; while, to be set against this, there is an Irish immigration into Wales. On the whole, I think the figures I have given may be accepted for the purpose for which they are

The comparatively slow growth of capital in those counties of North Wales is thus, as regards its effect on the condition of the people, neutralized by a growth of population proportionately slow; and the practical result is a rate of remuneration fully up to the English level. The defect in respect to material conditions is compensated by greater vigour in the moral. Now, I think it is impossible not to connect this satisfactory state of things with the régime of industry under which it has come to pass. Indeed, to what else can it be ascribed Religious influences, no doubt, are powerful in North Wales. Nothing apparently can exceed the activity and zeal of the dissenting bodies; and the good effect on the morals and general demeanour of the people is very observable. But, however compatible a strong sense of religion may be with worldly prudence in those matters on which the growth of population depends, the mundane virtue can yet scarcely be regarded as a specific religious result: certainly it is not one which it is usual to hear inculcated from the pulpit. Nor can the fact be attributed to education in the ordinary sense of the word; for, notwithstanding the strongly pronounced literary instincts of the Welsh people, literary education in North Wales seems to be in a decidedly backward state. Improvements, it is said, of an important kind have in recent years been effected in the primary schools; but this has occurred since the mass of the present generation of Welshmen have entered upon active life. It is rare, out of the principal towns, to find working people over the age of thirty who can exchange more than a few words of English: hundreds of thousands cannot accomplish even this little; and even in the towns it is not uncommon to meet substantial shopkeepers who are unable to sign their names to their own bills. In one quarry I was told that some considerable number of the workmen were un

adduced, as corroborative illustrations of tendencies which there are independent grounds for believing to exist.

able to read and write. It is therefore not to the superiority of their school instruction that the industrial population of these Welsh counties are indebted for the remarkable circumspection and self-control which they display in their most important social relations. I can only regard this phenomenon, therefore, as the fruit of that practical training in habits of thrift and wise foresight which is provided for them in the industrial system under which they live.

It thus appears that, in point of pecuniary returns, the position of the Welsh quarriers does not suffer by comparison with that of workmen in analogous occupations even in the most prosperous districts of England-districts far more favourably circumstanced, as regards the physical conditions affecting the remuneration of the labourer, than those of the slate quarries. But mere pecuniary return affords after all but an inadequate criterion of the labourer's condition. Fully as important as the amount which he earns is the mode in which his earnings are spent; and it is here that the peculiar strength of the co-oporative principle comes into play. Those who have watched the working of "co-operative stores" have been struck with their effect in awakening and stimulating the saving spirit among the working classes-a result which has been attributed to the strong temptations to frugality presented by those establishments in the opportunities they afford for investing small sums at a fair rate of profit. In the particular form of co-operation, however, to which I have in this paper called attention, this incident of the co-operative plan such as it exists elsewhere-the provision, that is to say, for small investments-does not exist. As I have already intimated, to qualify a man for taking part in a "bargain," no capital is needed beyond the moral capital of a good character. Even should he be in a position to decline the credit which is readily extended to him, the amount required for the purchase of such implements and tools as it falls to his share of the bargain to provide

would be exceedingly small. Nor does he find in the other branches of industry flourishing around him those special opportunities which are wanting in his own. Co-operative stores have indeed, as I have been informed, been established in one or two localities in North Wales, and with excellent results; but they do not yet exist on such a scale that they can be supposed to have sensibly affected the habits of the people. As regards the larger operations of slate quarrying, they are, as it happens, peculiarly unsuited as a field for small investments. This will at once be understood if regard be had to what has been already stated -that the amount of capital required to start a slate quarry is very large, while the risk of the speculation is very great. The former obstacle might indeed be overcome by recourse to the joint stock expedient, were the joint stock plan capable of being applied with advantage to this branch of production; but this seems not to be the case: at least, so think the working quarriers, and their opinion seems to be borne out by facts. In the case of the population

concerns;

1 Numerous joint-stock companies are at present working quarries in North Wales; but, as a rule, I understand they are not flourishing all the most prosperous undertakings being in the hands of individuals or private co-partneries. The reasons for the superiority of the latter are apparent enough. There is no need that the business organizations of such an undertaking should be other than extremely simple. In Penrhyn Quarry, for example, where the operations are on an immense scale, the entire business of keeping the accounts, &c. is performed by two clerks. This cannot but give a great advantage to individuals and small co-partneries over the necessarily more cumbrous organization of a joint-stock company. Again, the special knowledge and singleness of design which are so essential in this branch of industry are much more likely to be realized by individuals, or associations consisting of a few partners, than by a more numerous body. In addition to the reasons mentioned in the text, it is probable that some distrust of the Saxon enters into the Welsh workman's reluctance to commit his savings to undertakings which are carried on largely by Saxon capital: this seems to be expressed in his proverb:-"Os byth y gweli sais ac engine yn dyfod ir gwaith pacia dy bethan." [When you see an Englishman with his engine coming to the work, pack and be off.]

of the slate quarries, therefore, there seems to be an entire absence of those special incentives to frugality and providence which have been incidents of the co-operative plan in its better known forms. Nevertheless frugality and providence are found to characterise this population in a remarkable degree. The mere fact that, according to the prevailing custom, wages are paid at so long an interval as once a month, implies of itself a considerable fund of accumulated savings existing among the body of the people. But this would give but an inadequate idea of their saving disposition. It is, I am assured, quite common to find in the ranks of the contractors men who have laid by from one to three and four hundred pounds. In one quarry which I visited, a man was pointed out to me—a manual labourer

-who was known to be in receipt of between 801. and 1007. a year, independently altogether of his current earnings the return on capital saved and invested. This, no doubt, was an extraordinary case, but not, I was assured, by any means without a parallel. Well, where is the field for the investment of these considerable accumulations? A portion goes into agriculture; prosperous quarrymen turning farmers in their latter days, or sometimes combining with farming pursuits occasional adventures in their old line. Retail trade again absorbs some. But probably the largest part of the funds finds its way into the associations known as "building societies." These "building societies" might with more propriety be called loan societies; their functions consisting in advancing money to be invested in building speculations, which, though for the most part undertaken by the members, are yet carried on on individual account, resembling in this respect the "Verschussvereine" described by Professer Huber in his interesting paper on "Co-operation." These societies are extremely popular with the workmen; and as to the range of their operations the reader will be able to

1 Published in the "Social Science Transactions" for 1862.

form some notion when I state that several considerable towns in North Wales have been almost entirely built by the capital supplied through this agency. Thus the pretty town of Bethesda, within five miles of Bangor, is almost entirely the creation of the enterprise of working men deriving their funds from this source. Llandudno, Rhyll, and Upper Bangor owe their existence in large part to the same cause. As to the substantial comfort in which the people of the quarry districts live, no one who has visited these districts will, I think, feel any doubt. Nor is it comfort merely. The style and finish of the workmen's houses are very remarkable, more particularly in Bethesda and the neighbourhood of the Penrhyn quarries, where the elegant model furnished by Colonel Pennant in his own village has been turned to excellent account. A feature in the architecture is the variety of modes in which the staple material is brought into requisition. Roofing is but a small part of the purposes to which the slate is applied: there are slate door-posts, slate windowsettings; the ground story is generally flagged with slate, which makes its appearance besides in many places where one would little expect to find it. I know not whether the extreme cleanliness of the Welsh is to be attributed in any degree to the advantages of this material; but they are certainly preeminent in this virtue. The exquisite neatness of some of the cottages in Bethesda and Trefriw is such as I imagine would not easily be matched out of Holland. The kitchen-parlour is quite a marvel of cleanliness, tidiness, and order with its slate floor swept till it shines, its "varnished clock" clicking "behind the door," and its furniture, though mostly made of common wood, polished to such brightness that it does not pale even before the constellations of brass knobs which glitter all around. In the village where I was staying I have watched an old woman who lived the opposite side of the street come out in showery weather to scrub her door-slab clean as fast as it was soiled by the foot

on