FERDINAND  LASSALLE.

75

The  object  to  be  attained  is  evidently  that  capital  and
labour  should  be  united  in  the  same  hands,  under  the  system
of  production  on  a  large  scale,  as  was  formerly  the  case  in  the
corporations,  or  as  is  the  case  to-day  with  the  peasant  proprietor. ­
  This  may  be  accomplished  by  means  of  the  jointstock
  company,  provided  the  capital  be  represented  by  shares
of  a  very  small  value.  Suppose,  for  example,  a  great  mill  worth
thousands  of  pounds,  but  with  shares  of  the  value  of  four
pounds  only  :  the  workmen,  and  the  employés  of  every  grade
might  acquire  these  shares  out  of  their  savings  j  they  would
thus  become  shareholders,  and,  as  such,  owners  of  the  mill.
Would  not  such  a  joint-stock  company  become  thenceforth  a
true  co-operative  society  ?  It  would  have  all  the  advantages
of  one,  without  presenting  the  same  difficulties.  It  would  be,
above  all,  an  association  of  capital.  The  men  would  be  associated ­
  merely  voluntarily  and  temporarily,  in  the  character  of
shareholders,  and  it  is  easier  to  hold  capital  together  than  men.
The  joint-stock  company  would  thus  serve  as  a  stepping-stone
to  co-operation,*  but  this,  however,  need  not  prevent  select
workmen  from  at  once  trying  the  latter.  The  mere  attempt
will  do  them  good.  Even  in  the  event  of  failure,  they  will  have
acquired  experience,  habits  of  order  and  economy,  familiarity
with  business,  and  a  practical  knowledge  of  economic  questions,
no  less  desirable  in  their  own  interest  than  in  that  of  social
order.
Lassalle  did  not  believe  that  co-operative  societies  would  of
themselves  bring  about  “  the  solution  of  the  social  question.”
“  I  have  never  used  that  expression,”  he  says,  “  because  the
transformation  of  society  will  be  the  work  of  centuries,  and  of
a  whole  series  of  measures  and  reforms  which  will  be  evolved
organically  out  of  each  other.  I  have  approved  of  co-operation ­
  merely  as  one  means  of  improving  the  condition  of  the
*  It  is  stated  in  the  report  of  an  English  society,  “  The  North  of  England ­
  Industrial  and  Coal  Comply,  Limited,"  that  several  co-operative
societies  are  large  shareholders  in  the  concern,  which  possesses  blastfurnaces ­
  and  rotatory  puddling  ovens  at  Carlton,  coal  mines  in  Durham,
and  smelting  works  at  Cleveland.  Here  is  the  stepping-stone  between  the
joint-stock  company  and  the  co-operative  society.