holders of capital. What they and we have to learn is that it has no limitations; and that is a truth which will not be assimilated in a generation. There is even danger that in our insurrection against the mad rush of concentration we shall be driven into the forms of co-operation for which the spirit is not yet prepared, and that serious reactions will occur, by which the progress toward a true industrial democracy will be long delayed. The hardest lesson to learn is that healthful social progress must be tentative and slow. If we would work together with God, we must learn his methods.

The duty of the hour is simple. It is to protest, not against the concentration of industry, but against the inflation of capital. The laws which seek to restrain co-operation are attempts to dam the

stream of human progress; men are bound to co-operate more and more and on a larger and larger scale; but they must not make their co-operation a pretext for plunder. That is the precise significance of the watering of stocks; and if we want to avoid a certain financial cataclysm and a probable social revolution, we must find some way of putting an end to this. Every man who offers to sell this fictitious property, and every man who thinks of buying it, should clearly understand the nature of it, and the probable consequences of its wide distribution. It must not be supposed that injustices of this character can be committed with impunity; there was never a day when the ethical sense of the people was so quick and sure, and when retribution for social wrongs was so near at hand.

T

HE steady, quiet, substantial progess of practical co-operative methods among the large employers of labor is daily diminishing the capital of the professional labor agitator. Lessons learned by hard experience are decreasing the distance between employers and employed; and along with the consolidation of industrial enterprises, against which the voice of the agitator is so loudly raised, proceeds the natural consolidation of the interests of those who manage the great corporations and of those who hold subordinate positions under these "captains of industry."

There are few object-lessons in this advancement of the co-operative idea more impressive and interesting than the effort of the Illinois Central Railroad to make ⚫ possible the distribution of its stock shares among the employees of the system, without discrimination or regard to rank, personality, or term of service. If any partiality is shown in the conditions regulating the purchase of stock by employees of this system, the advantage is in favor of the humble laborers rather than of the men who command considerable salaries. Perusal of the provisions for the acquisition of shares by the men who are numbered in the pay-rolls of this corporation

leads to the conviction that the trackhand, the "wiper," the switch-tender, the brakeman, or the machinist who does not become a stockholder of the road has more than his share of misfortunes, or has only his improvidence to thank for his lack. Certainly it would be difficult to devise more lenient provisions to enable the grimy wage-workers to become proprietary profit-sharers in the system than those already successfully in operation under the management of this line.

So far as the officials of this corporation are informed, no other railway has adopted a plan to this purpose approaching in extent or liberality that devised by President Stuyvesant Fish, of the Illinois Central. Other roads, however, have made commendable effort in this direction. Among these may be mentioned the Chicago and Great Western system. But none of these has laid upon the plan that emphasis of official approval or entered into the advancement of the scheme with the energy and thoroughness which have characterized the policy and practice of the Illinois Central.

From its installation to the present time, the advancement of the "share-purchasing system" has been one of the responsible official duties of Mr. John C. Weiling,

First Vice-President of the corporation, and the officer in charge of its financial affairs. To the promotion of the plan he has given studious and interested attention, with the result that he is even more heartily enthusiastic for its broader and general adoption than when the demonstration of its success was first placed in his hands. The first official suggestion of this plan for enabling employees to become shareholders was outlined in a circular issued by President Stuyvesant Fish, May 18, 1893. Before the matter was fairly launched, however, this road, along with all others, was drawn into the great Debs strike of 1894, and consequently the plan was not really operative until the estrangement between employers and employed resulting from that bitter contest was partially healed. May 25, 1896, President Fish again gave his offi. cial attention to this interest, and issued another circular, addressed to the "Officers and Employees of the Illinois Central Railroad," wherein he gave the following clear and succinct statement of the conditions governing the purchase of the corporation's shares by those in its employ:

On the first day of each month the Company will quote to employees, through the heads of their departments, a price at which their applications will be accepted for the purchase of Illinois Central shares during that month. An employee is offered the privilege of subscribing for one share at a time, payable by installments in sums of $5 or any multi ple of $5, on the completion of which the Company will deliver to him a certificate of the share registered in his name on the books of the Company. He can then, if he wishes, begin the purchase of another share on the installment plan. The certificate of stock is transferable on the Company's books, and entitles the owner to such dividends as may be declared by the Board of Directors, and to a vote in their election.

Any officer or employee making payments on this plan will be entitled to receive interest on his deposits, at the rate of four per cent. per annum, during the time he is paying for his share of stock, provided he does not allow twelve consecutive months to elapse without making any payment, at the expiration of which period interest will cease to accrue, and the sum at his credit will be returned to him on his application therefor.

Any officer or employee making payments on the foregoing plan, and for any reason desiring to discontinue them, can have his money returned to him with accrued interest, by making application to the head of the department in which he is employed.

An employee who has made application for a share of stock on the installment plan is

In case an employee leaves the service of the Company from any cause, he must then either pay in full for the share for which he has subscribed and receive a certificate there. for, or take his money with the interest which has accrued.

chase of shares of stock for cash. An emThe foregoing does not preclude the purployee who has not already an outstanding application for a share of stock on the install ment plan, which is not fully paid for, can in of stock for cash at the price quoted to emany given month make application for a share ployees for that month, and he can in the same month, if he so desires, make application for another share on the installment plan.

Employees who want to purchase more than one share at a time for cash should address the Vice-President in Chicago, who will obtain for them from the New York office a price at which the stock can be purchased.

Any employee desiring to purchase stock (except in special purchase of more than one share for cash) should apply to his immediate superior officer, or to one of the Local Treas

urers.

It is not to be doubted that the severe experience of the strike prepared the ground as nothing else could have done for more vigorous prosecution of this plan. The chief officials of the road were profoundly impressed with the necessity of some influence which should in fact and in sentiment make the interest of the road the interest of its employees of every rank and condition-something that should cause every mechanic or laborer to look upon the property of the road as upon his own, and treat it with the same personal interest, consideration, and protection. On the other hand, the dark days of that struggle caused many a thoughtful railroad "hand" to wish that he had been 'forehanded" and could boast of some"laid up."

thing

Naturally, all the advances towards a stronger alliance of the interests of employer and employed came from the former, and the management of the Illinois Central went about the establishment of this new relationship with a vigor and determination not hinted at in the circular of President Fish. It was clear to the governing officials that the only way in

which an engineer, fireman, brakeman, or switch-tender could be made to look upon a car or locomotive and say within himself, "That's partly mine; the more carefully I handle it, the more money I'll get out of it and of its service," was to give him an actual proprietary interest therein. Therefore the resolve to enlist the employees in the ranks of shareholders. There is no attempt to deny that this movement was entered upon in a spirit of self-protection and as an appeal to that selfishness which causes the average man to treat his own possessions and interests with a consideration that he does not give to the things of another. Nor is it denied that the fundamental inspiration of this move was that of establishing between employees and the corporation so close an identity that another strike would be an impossibility, because in defiance of man's natural self-interest in his own possessions.

Believing that this desirable state of interdependence and co-operation could be brought about by the distribution of the railroad's shares among the employees, the management detailed an old and intelligent trainman-one who was an enthusiastic believer in the plan-to go among his fellows and explain it to them in detail. So rapidly did this new gospel of shareholding spread among the employees that June 30, 1898, found the plan at this stage of development: Employees to the number of more than 700 owned stock in the road. The shares subscribed for by these men of the payroll amounted to 2,042, of which 1,569 were fully paid for, the certificates having been issued to the subscribers. This left 473 shares in process of payment under the provisions stated in the President's circular. The deposits on these shares reached the considerable figure of $28,621.49. The total number of shareholders then living in this country was 3,365, and they owned 237,709 shares. While there has been a steady increase in the number of employees who have invested in shares since June 30, 1898, the increase has not been large, owing to the marked apprecia

tion in the value of the stock.

the shares quoted below par, it is not to be wondered that they were inclined to distrust this advance and fear that it would, sooner or later, be followed by a decided reaction, in which their investment would suffer a severe shrinkage. On the contrary, the advancing prosperity of the road has resulted in a steady rise in the market value of its shares. Comparatively few employees have invested since the quotations have climbed above par-and they are now at about 117. When these small investors become thoroughly accustomed to the prevailing values and wear out their fears that prices will suffer a retrograde movement, it is believed that they will invest as freely as before the shares reached so substantial a premium.

A glance over a list of employees who "paid out" on their shares in recent months shows that practically every class of labor is represented. The roster contains the names of flagmen, section hands, conductors, ticket agents, operators, car inspectors, car repairers, master mechanics, road supervisors, boiler-makers, division superintendents, brakemen, superintendents of telegraph, clerks, assistant engineers of the road department, and men in various other ranks of the service.

In commenting on the progress of the share-purchasing plan and its results to

the management and the employees, Vice-President Welling expresses his unqualified approval of the experiment. and says:

All classes of employees have availed themselves of the opportunity to purchase stock through the Company, and many are constant share as soon as they have paid for the outsubscribers, making application for another standing one. The rise in Illinois Central stock has tempted some to sell in order to realize a profit on their investment, and at the same time it has deterred, to some extent, would-be subscribers who are not yet accustomed to seeing the stock above par. The greater part of the subscriptions were made when the stock was below par, and as there stock, subscribers are well satisfied with their has been a steady advance in the price of the investments.

The

price for it which could be obtained at the time of sale.

The acquisition of a part ownership in the Company's property, with a vote in the conduct of its affairs, is an educational factor in bringing home to the mind of the employee having such ownership the relation and interdependence of labor and capital. He needs no argument to convince him of the soundness of the proposition that his hard-earned savings invested in the road are but a part of his labor transmuted into capital, helping to furnish employment to other workers and adding to the material welfare and prosperity of the commonwealth, as well as yielding, under prudent management, a fair return on his labor investment. He must of necessity grasp the meaning of co-operation and what is necessary to protect and sustain it.

From such intelligent co-operation as it is the aim of the Company to foster by the inducements offered to its employees in the purchase of its stock, it is confidently expected that the standard of the service will be raised even higher than it has been, and that beneficial results will flow alike to the Company, its employees, and the public.

One of the most gratifying results already clearly apparent as the direct outcome of this system is the closer relationship between the subordinate officials and the men under them. The fact that the purchases of shares are made through the department chiefs brings the men closely in touch with their direct superiors. It is not an unusual sight to see an engineer, in his greasy overalls, holding a consultation with the chief of the operating department relative to the probable advance of stock. The section hand, who earns thirty to forty dollars a month, is made welcome at the office of the superintendent in charge of the roadbed to talk over the advisability of investing in a share of the Company's stock. The whole tendency of the plan is in the line

I

of better feeling-and on this point I speak, not from theory, but from actual demonstra tion. How strong this tendency is was recently illustrated by the action of the Railway and Telegraph Employees' Political League in protesting against the reduction of rates on the hauling of live stock.

Every shareholder is provided with transportation to attend the annual meeting of stockholders. It is a matter of regret to the chief officials that the modesty of the employees who own shares has prevented them from being present at these meetings, and we hope the time will come when general advantage of this invitation will be taken on the part of the smallest shareholders. They will be welcome and their presence appreciated.

I wish to make it clear that there is no "forfeit" or loss entailed on any person who contracts for a share but is unable to make full payment thereon. Any reason whatever for desiring to surrender the share before its payment is completed is accepted without question, and the partial investor receives his full investment, with interest at four per cent. Some are unable to make even the smallest payment for several months in succession. These are "carried" without any demurrer. I have yet to learn that many of the employees keep close watch of the market quotations of the stock; but most of them are aware that the stock pays a dividend of five per cent.; and they put their money into it as they would into a savings bank.

ees.

One of the most recent developments of the movement is a decided activity in the cash purchase of shares, in small blocks, by the more forehanded and prosperous employThis is done through the office, as indicated in the circular, and is assuming a volume of considerable proportions. In every particular the operation of the plan has been satisfactory, and it is to be hoped that other roads will adopt it with similar success.

N that volume of marvelous insight and wisdom, "The Education of Man," Froebel thus sums up a universally accepted world-truth: "The whole later life of man, even to the moment when he shall leave it again, has its source in the period of childhood-be this later life pure or impure, gentle or violent, quiet or impulsive, industrious or indolent, rich or poor in deeds, passed in dull stupor or in keen creativeness, in stupid wonder or intelligent insight, producing or destroying, the bringer of harmony or discord, of war or peace. His future relations to father and mother, to the members of the family, to society and mankind, to nature

and God, . . . depend chiefly upon his mode of life at this period; for the child's life in and with himself, his family, nature, and God, is as yet a unit."

In this union of nature with motherhood and childhood one element prevails

it is the fostering, guiding mother-love. It is the divine motherhood of nature working in unison with the human yet divine mother that stimulates the spiritual sense of the child. And in proportion to the right development of that spiritual sense will the later life be a matter of profit or loss to the world. It was this idea of oneness that Victor Hugo expressed in a sentence when he wrote

It is to the genius of Shakespeare that we instinctively turn for illustrations many and varied. Of his childhood and youth there is not much of certainty recorded, but Professor R. R. Halleck, of Yale, tells us that in all probability his mother, who was of "gentle birth and good breeding," was the constant companion of his earliest years, and that her refinement and clear moral perceptions were, no doubt, deeply impressive. We may safely conclude, Professor Halleck affirms, that she guided her son in his sympathetic acquaintance with nature, and that his magnificent pictures of womanhood owe much to her."

Walter Scott, the master-singer of Scotland, was, as a child, very delicate, and he was therefore allowed great freedom in out-of-door life. It was at the countryseat of his grandfather that "many of the happiest days of childhood were spent in gazing up at Sandy-Knowe tower as he lay on the grass among the sheep, or in looking down on the gray ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, or in watching the windings of the silver Tweed."

It is related of Scott that when he was eleven years of age his mother "saw him one morning in the midst of a tremendous thunder-storm, standing still in the street and looking up at the sky. She called to him repeatedly, but he remained looking upwards, without taking the least notice of her. When he returned to the house, she was much displeased with him. 'Mother,' he said, 'I could tell you the reason why I stood still, and why I looked at the sky, if you would give me a pencil.' She gave him one, and in less than five minutes he laid a bit of paper on her lap with these words on it:

Loud o'er my head what awful thunders roll! What vivid lightnings flash from pole to pole! It is thy voice, my God, that bids them flyThy voice directs them through the vaulted sky.

Then let the good thy mighty voice revere; Let hardened sinners thy just judgment fear."

Not only such writers as Keats, Wordsworth, and Shelley have shown a keen appreciation of the spiritual beauty of the universe, but others apparently less poetical have in their works revealed the same appreciation. In a book entitled "Memories," by Professor Max Müller, of Oxford, may be found the source of

have been so enriched. In tracing to the very beginning his impressions of life Professor Müller states:

"I believe I can yet remember when I saw the stars for the first time. They may have seen me often before, but one evening it seemed as if it were cold. Although I lay in my mother's lap, I shivered and was chilly, or I was frightened. In short, something came over me which reminded me of my little Ego in no ordinary manner. Then my mother showed me the bright stars, and I wondered at them, and thought she had made them very beautifully. Then I felt warm again, and could sleep well.

Furthermore, I remember how I once lay in the grass, and everything about me tossed and nodded, hummed and buzzed. Then there came a great swarm of little, myriad-footed, winged creatures, which lit upon my forehead and eyes and said 'Good-day.' . . . I could not open my eyes or see the blue sky any longer, but my mother had a bunch of fresh violets in her hand, and it seemed as if a darkblue, fresh, spicy perfume were wafted over my senses. Even now, whenever I see the first violets, I remember this, and it seems to me that I must close my eyes so that the old dark-blue heaven of that day may again rise in my soul.

"These things I remember in my earliest childhood, and intermingled with them are my dear mother's looks, the calm, earnest gaze of my father, gardens and vine-leaves, and soft green turf, and a very old and quaint picture-book-and this is all I can recall of the first scattered leaves of my childhood."

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has left his testimony as to this unity of childhood. With regard to the "influences which tended to make me a poet," he writes: "In the first place, the infancy of every human being born under favorable conditions is full of inspiration, which acts in the consciousness long before it has found words to express its exalted and excited emotions. The blue sky overhead, the green expanse underfoot, the breath of the flowers, the smile of the mother, the voices of loving guardians and friends, the changes of day and night, the roll of thunder, the blaze of lightning-all that makes up the scenery and orchestra of