We feel, in concluding this brief tribute, that we have very imperfectly rendered account of the many lessons of spiritual truth and wisdom learned years ago by the study of this great poet. What these have been to us in the formative period of thought and character, the help, delight, inspiration and solace they have afforded in after years, cannot be communicated. Most of these lessons are too deep and subtle to be conveyed in words, but must be learned at the feet of this great Teacher by long and intimate communion with his spirit, even as he himself learned them by communion with the heart and spirit of Nature; by reverently listening to those voices with which she speaks not to the ear, but to the soul and spirit of man.

We would earnestly entreat the young, whose intellectual and moral tastes are in the process of formation, not only to read, but to study, and become familiar with this great intellectual and moral poet, who has been fitly styled, 'Friend of the wise and Teacher of the good.' "The careful and reverential study of Wordsworth," it has been truly said, "is in itself a moral and intellectual education of a very high order." We know of no better antidote to counteract the shallow and corrupting sensationalism and materialism of the day, by awakening reflection, reverence and faith; by opening those nether springs within the soul whence issues all that is noble and pure and worthy in human life and human character. A mind filled with such treasures of thought and sentiment as Wordsworth brings, an imagination chastened and purified by such imagery as he presents, and a communion with Nature such as he alone of all poets holds and teaches, will be the surest safeguard against moral corruption and intellectual prostitution, and will tend in these days of unbelief to keep alive and to strengthen our faith in God and humanity.

As a spiritual teacher, then, we think we have shown that Wordsworth has not transcended, but fulfilled the true end of poetry, which is identical with that of the prophet-to be first of all the seer, and then the revealer in language befitting their dignity, of moral and spiritual truth, ideal and divine realities, of things unseen and eternal. As one of the latest and best of English critics has said: "In the world of Nature, to be a revealer of things hidden, the sanctifier of things common, the

interpreter of new and unsuspected relations, the opener of another sense in men; in the moral world to be the teacher of truths hitherto neglected or unobserved, the awakener of men's hearts to the solemnities that encompass them, deepening our reverence for the essential soul, apart from accident and circumstance, making us feel more truly, more tenderly, more profoundly, lifting the thoughts upward through the shows of time to that which is permanent and eternal, and bringing down on the transitory things of eye and ear some shadow of the eternal, till we

this is the office which he will not cease to fulfil, as long as the English language lasts."

HENRY M. GOODWIN.

ARTICLE IL-PROFIT-SHARING AS A METHOD OF REMUNERATING LABOR.

SOME LIMITATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED.

COÖPERATION and profit-sharing are the two expedients by which it is now most often proposed to avoid undesirable antagonism between the employer and the employed, or, as it is commonly phrased, between Capital and Labor.

Coöperation, although by no means the panacea which its more ardent advocates would have us believe, has this much in its favor, that when it is properly organized it is a legitimate and logical method of conducting business enterprizes. It is then simply the contribution of the small savings of persons of moderate means to a fund which forms the capital for a business undertaking, in the prosecution of which the contributors may or may not be themselves employed. If the business is one of production, as manufacturing, the contributors to the capital are expected to be the employees of their own establishment. If the business is one of distribution, as in the case of coöperative stores, they are not employees, but are expected to be purchasers. In the one case, in addition to such ordinary wages as their skill entitles them to receive, they also receive a share of such profits as may result, proportioned to the amount of their contribution to capital. In the other case they expect to reap their advantage partly in the form of profits on their investment, and partly in the way of purchases of what they need, at prices somewhat lower than the prevailing market rates. The only question then of importance to be considered in regard to coöperation is, can the contributors afford to take the risks of the business? And the success of the undertaking depends on the ability of the management, and on the chances which attach to all business enterprises, and is subject in all respects to ordinary business laws.

I know of no better example of a legal provision for true coöperation than the Joint Stock law of Connecticut

which was framed with special reference to men of moderate means, the shares being allowed (and by the law as originally framed, required) to be but $25 each. Under this law coöperative enterprises have been conducted in Connecticut for fifty years and with as much success as they can expect to attain under any circumstances. In England, where the idea a few years since was a novel one, some experiments having met with rather marked success, the people were led to believe that they had at length discovered the philosopher's stone, and a glamour was thrown over the whole subject which has been reflected on this side of the Atlantic, and has bewildered the vision of many good but inexperienced people who did not appreciate that they had long had at their own doors, and in active operation, a legalized system combining all the advantages of this new-found English scheme.

Profit-sharing proposes to pay the laborer by giving him: first, a stipulated fixed sum as wages, and second, a proportion of the profits of the business in which his employer is engaged in addition to his fixed wages.

The advantages of this system are supposed to be: 1. That the laborer will be better paid. 2. That being interested in, and partly dependent on, the pecuniary success of the business about which he is employed, he will therefore be a better and more faithful workman. 3. That on this account his employer can afford to pay him more. 4. That, as anything which he gets beyond his fixed wages is paid out of profits and in proportion to profits, therefore his employer can well afford this extra compensation. 5. That it cultivates friendly relations between the employer and the employed. 6. That it increases industry and stimulates self-respect in the workingmen.

The first thing we note is that the scheme is based on the assumption that the workingman is now underpaid. We will not therefore discuss this question, but, admitting the assumption, the inquiry is whether this is the best way, or, at any rate, a fairly good way, to raise the standard of wages.

The second point is, that, being interested in the pecuniary success of the business, the employee will be a better and more faithful workman. This is one of the strong points with the advocates of the system, and, a priori, seems sensible and

reasonable. It is a matter not susceptible of demonstration, and in regard to which we cannot resort to statistics. I can only say that from my experience and from my knowledge of the experience of others, I have not much confidence in the theory that because the workman has this small pecuniary interest in the result he will therefore be a better workman. The connection in his mind seems to be too indirect, if not too slight, to produce any such result. A workman of any energy and ambition is far more likely to be influenced by a desire for success and a sense of success in the immediate result of his work; a good tool; a well-finished product; a successful manipulation of any kind, which shows at once for itself; and a word of praise, a feeling of loyalty, or the esprit du corps of his class will go much farther in stimulating and in compensating effort than any feeling that his daily work will at the year's end slightly enhance his wages. Even small stockholders in a corporation have not been found to be, on that account, any more desirable as workmen, or to have the success of the business any more at heart. A right to grumble and find fault or an endeavor to use their position in some indirect way, for their advantage is far more likely to be the result. Workmen as a rule when well treated, and especially American workmen, I have found to be a faithful and loyal set of people. And with them I have no fault to find. But I wish to put the thing precisely as it is, neither exaggerate nor set down aught in malice, and the result of my observation is that I would not give one penny more for a man as a workman simply because he had a slight pecuniary interest in the profit accruing to me, as the result of his labors.

There is an enthusiasm and an interest which may be aroused among any organized body of men, by a leader or a manager who has a genius for it, that is of the greatest possible value in any enterprise the success of which depends upon the combined effort of numbers, whether it be storming a fortress or running a factory. The basis of this is very largely that power of sympathy which we call magnetism, combined with a certain will power, which makes a man a leader. And the man of enthusiastic temperament and ready sympathy who would try profit sharing as an experiment would also be likely to be