Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/823

 PROFIT-SHARING AND COOPERATION 803

special interest in the profits of their departments. The remain- der of the 3,000 or more employes are benefited by the special funds mentioned.

The best example of such a development is the "Familistere Society of Guise, Cooperative Association of Capital and Labor," formerly the Maison Godi7i of Guise, France. Though some phases of M. Godin's communistic ideas were put in force as early as i860 in the construction of the first familistere, yet the profit-sharing and cooperative plan was contemplated for almost forty years after the business was founded before it was put into practical operation. We have here no interest in the fami- listere, the communistic tenement houses, though this feature has been made of greatest importance, and, in fact, has a greater prominence than the more commendable features of the system. The profit-sharing system was introduced in 1877, ^"^^ was con- tinued for three years, with an average distribution of 57,000 francs, but in 1880 the profit-sharing scheme was elaborated and combined with a plan ultimately making the enterprise coopera- tive.

The workmen in the enterprise are divided into five classes, the first three of which are members of the association that now has complete control. These are the associh, the soci^taires, the participants, the int^ress^s, and the aiixiliaires. The members of the first three groups are the cooperators. An associ^ must be twenty-five years of age, a resident of a familistere, and an employe of the society for at least five years, able to read and write, and owner of certificate of stock of the society to the value of 500 francs, and must be admitted by the general assem- bly as an associ^. A soci^taire must be twenty-one years of age, free from military duty, a resident of a familisttre, an employe for three years, and must be admitted by the general council. A participant must possess similar qualifications, except that only one year's employment is requisite. The intdress^s are outsiders who have come into possession of certificates of stock, but take no part in the work. The atixiliaires are workmen employed by the societv when extra help is needed, but who have not ful- filled the requirements of membership. The first three classes