•A/ 
 
 ! ;■ 
 
 WCAT/jL OGEO' 
 
 THE 
 
 STORY OF THE FORMATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE 
 
 • « > 
 
 Jfetian Jlanttfa([tMrin0 laddij 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 ■tfy JOSEPH GREENWOOD 
 
 (Manager of the Society). 
 
 ISSUED BV THB 
 
 CENTRAL CO-OPERATIVE BOARD, 
 
 14 , CITY BUILDINGS. CORPORATION STREET, MANCHESTER. 
 
 Library 
 
 of the 
 
 jjnWersity of Sllto#** 
 
She Story op the Formation op the 
 F>ebden Bridge fustian Manu- 
 facturing Society. 
 
 4 
 
 A Paper read by Mr. J. Greenwood, in the People’s Hall, Albion 
 Street, Leeds, on Saturday Evening , February n, 1888. 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 TfPT should be understood that Hebden Bridge has 
 long been a place for the manufacture of Fustians, 
 and that the water of the locality is naturally favour- 
 able for a good finish of the material. About 1850 this 
 had become appreciated to such an extent that an 
 old firm of very noted dyers and finishers of Salford 
 bought an estate in the valley of the Hebden, and 
 transferred a portion of their work to this place. 
 
 Along with this work came a goodly number of 
 cutters and dyers, mostly Irishmen. An old man, over 
 70 years of age (born in Bandon, in the south of Ireland), 
 was among them, whose death in our workshop was 
 the immediate cause of our combination. The old man 
 was a type of several more of these men — intelligent, 
 but very much given to drink ; and in consequence 
 was often in precarious circumstances. The characters 
 of these men were strongly marked, and their experi- 
 ences were varied. Some of them had served their 
 time at fustian cutting at Bandon, and when that trade 
 
4 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 was brought to Manchester they came over with it. 
 Mr. Lloyd Jones came from Bandon, and I have heard 
 one of these cutters say that when Lloyd was a child 
 he often carried him about on his back at play. 
 
 These men had lived in the most eventful period of 
 the establishment of the Union and the agitation for its 
 repeal. On this subject their passions could be easily 
 aroused. Their dispositions were marred through the 
 hard lot in which their lives had been cast. Yet they 
 were kind and sociable to friends and workmates. 
 
 I need not describe to you the characteristics of the 
 other individuals in our workshop. They were the 
 local inhabitants, and ordinary type of a West Riding 
 village and the hills about. 
 
 The period I have stated — 1850 — was not long after 
 the most stirring times of the Chartist movement, and 
 in the midst of the opening up of the Rochdale plan of 
 co-operation. Those who have read “ Shirley,” “ Mary 
 Barton,” or “ Alton Locke,” will better understand the 
 situation. 
 
 The condition of men in their homes and workshops 
 has a great deal to do with determining the course of 
 action they are likely to take. It was so with us fustian 
 cutters at Hebden Bridge in the year 1870. 
 
 Fustian cutting is done on frames by hand, and until 
 very lately it was done at the homes of the worker, but 
 more recently it has been done along with dyeing and 
 finishing at works on a large scale. Just previous to 
 the date named an attempt was made to bring to this 
 labour a large number of apprentices to take the places 
 of journeymen. At the shop where our association was 
 begun this was successfully resisted. 
 
 In the summer months the fustian trade is usually 
 very slack, and when there is a little work it is often 
 the case that it is required to be done in a few hours, 
 and no more to be had for two, three, or several days ; 
 and in an ordinary way not more than half-time can be 
 made at this season. Therefore the earnings of men 
 with large families are very irregular and stinted, and 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 5 
 
 it has been as much as families could do to maintain 
 their connection with the co-operative store. When 
 they have got a little dividend saved they have had 
 to draw upon it on occasions of severe stress of cir- 
 cumstances, and when old, nothing in front of them 
 but the workhouse. 
 
 It will be remembered that the year 1869 was the 
 beginning of a very active time in the co-operative 
 movement, and that conferences were being initiated 
 more fully in various parts. I was myself at that time 
 a member of the committee of the Hebden Bridge 
 Industrial Society, and was present at the conference 
 held at Bury. I and another member of the committee 
 were also delegates to the Congress (1870) held at Man- 
 chester. The papers read there, and the discussions 
 on them, made a deep impression upon our minds — 
 especially those which were directed towards productive 
 co-operation. The Congress was largely attended by 
 trade-unionists, and a good deal was said about the 
 folly of holding large amounts of money without making 
 any use of it productively to the advantage of the trades 
 members. The Rev. Mr. Molesworth, of Rochdale, was 
 most earnest in this matter. 
 
 In our workshop there were several who had taken 
 part in the Fustian Cutters’ Association, and had 
 often been appointed to attend meetings in connection 
 with the association, both at Hebden Bridge and at 
 Manchester, but not before this had it occurred to us 
 that it was possible to start a productive workshop. 
 
 The circumstances connected with the death of the 
 Irishman previously mentioned, and which occurred 
 immediately after the Congress, greatly hastened us to 
 establish ourselves in our productive undertaking. At 
 the particular factory where we were working it was 
 the custom for each to carry his own piece of cloth 
 from one part of the works to another, about a quarter 
 of a mile away ; and we had an understanding among 
 us that we would carry the cloth for the old man, who 
 was himself not able to carry it. We did this in turn. 
 
6 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 but on this occasion a dispute arose between two 
 persons as to whose turn it was — Jack insisting it was 
 Jim’s turn, while Jim held to the contrary. During the 
 dispute the old man went off for his load of work, which 
 after he had brought in he sat down and died. As he 
 sat down his arms dropped beside him, and his head 
 shrunk on his breast never to lift up again nor to 
 describe any more with eyes bright and full of fire the 
 scenes he had witnessed at Peterlooor elsewhere. We 
 gathered around him. There was not another word of 
 anger spoken, nor of recrimination. We got permission 
 and carried the body home. The exertion and the 
 excitement had caused his death. The old man had a 
 wife, but no children, nor had he any means. We 
 were under the necessity of making a subscription to 
 pay the funeral expenses, and after the funeral was 
 over we began to talk about forming a sort of friendly 
 society to meet circumstances of this kind. 
 
 Death at all times has its terrors, but when it is 
 brought about through want and the necessity to work 
 for daily bread at an advanced age, as in this case, it 
 is a hard fate. It is a disgrace to society when the old 
 and infirm cannot have means to live in comfort after 
 a life spent in toil. 
 
 The keen adversity through which we younger men 
 had to struggle and provide the bare necessaries for 
 those dependent upon us was rendered all the more 
 acute by the uncertainty of our being able to stave off 
 poverty and hunger, which in its turn brings on sickness 
 and also premature death. 
 
 There is one advantage of adversity — it brings its 
 sufferers closer together; and to us workmen the 
 opportunity seemed admirably fitted to determine us 
 to stick better together for a start in co-operative work. 
 
 I am sorry to say that the Irishmen, with the 
 exception of two or three, did not stay with us, but, 
 worse than all, they sold what little interest they had 
 in our undertaking very early in its history to men 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 7 
 
 who tempted them, and who made considerable gains 
 out of the transactions when we had hardly made any 
 progress towards success. 
 
 At the very beginning we fixed the contributions at 
 threepence per week towards this proposed friendly 
 society, and it was understood we should use the funds 
 in hand for trade purposes and towards the setting-up 
 of a cutting and dyeing establishment. About thirty 
 of us began the contributions, and we divided ourselves 
 into smaller parties to canvass other workshops in the 
 neighbourhood. Our determination was to confine 
 ourselves to working cutters and dyers, and to even- 
 tually find employment under our own control. 
 
 To encourage our staying powers, and to bind our- 
 selves more closely together, we were advised to get 
 our rules registered. 
 
 This was one of the big steps in the round of 
 responsibility we were incurring, and those of us who 
 were more immediately connected with the affairs of 
 the new Society felt that it was at no slight risk as we 
 proceeded. 
 
 Braybrook’s model rules were adopted, with a few 
 alterations to meet our special requirements. Two 
 fair copies were written and sent to the then Registrar 
 (Mr. A. K. Stephenson) for registration, and on 
 September ist, 1870, one of the copies was returned, 
 signed and certified. The names of those who signed 
 the rules (members of the Society) were — Samuel St. 
 Ledger, John Hall, Wm. Cotton, W. S. Greenwood, 
 Thos. Sutcliffe, John Armstrong, Joseph Moss, and 
 Jos. Greenwood, Sec. 
 
 I have said that we were poor men, and, with the 
 exception of one or two of our number, none of us 
 owned as much as a five-pound note. We never- 
 theless put our threepences together week after week, 
 until we got about ten pounds, which we invested at 
 interest in the Hebden Bridge Industrial Society. 
 
 The second resolution passed at our first committee 
 meeting (before the registration of the rules) sets forth 
 
8 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 the objects we hope to attain. It was afterwards con- 
 firmed at a meeting of the members, and was worded 
 as follows : “ The objects of the society shall be to find 
 employment for its members by the manufacture and 
 sale of fustians ; and it shall by contributions (of money, 
 labour, and profits) accumulate one thousand pounds 
 for that purpose. The society will aim at the regula- 
 tion of wages and labour in this branch of trade, but it 
 will not enter arbitrarily into any dispute between 
 masters and workmen. Still, it will practically educate 
 its members in the causes which operate for and against 
 them in their daily employment, and in the principles 
 that will tend to their elevation and improvement.” 
 This resolution points out the lines on which we hoped 
 to go. The sum of one thousand pounds, it was esti- 
 mated, would enable us to buy a dyeing plant, and we 
 could rent a place to carry on our work. This sum 
 may seem very moderate, but the prospect of obtaining 
 it at that time seemed very remote. 
 
 We calculated and schemed how we could make 
 progress and increase our little capital. We rented a 
 small upper room over a passage, ten feet by ten, in 
 Crown Street, opposite the Store, at Hebden Bridge. 
 This was the most central place we could get, and it 
 was one-and-a-half miles from the residence of those 
 who had the affairs of the Society in hand. 
 
 Our spare time was given to fitting up the small 
 fixtures we could afford, buying the boards and making 
 the shelves ourselves, which served to hold our small 
 stock. We bought a second-hand chair and table, and 
 with two forms we were completely furnished for a 
 meeting-room. A minute book, account books, and a 
 little stationery also we bought. We canvassed, and 
 had meetings again and again, trudging back to our 
 homes at eleven every night in the week. 
 
 We were fustian cutters — we were not accountants, 
 and we were not any of us competent to keep a set ol 
 books. One of our number had had a fairly good 
 education, and at one time held the post of assistant- 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 9 
 
 schoolmaster when a soldier in the army. We made 
 him our treasurer, and we elected another of our 
 number (a fustian cutter) as secretary. 
 
 By the help of a friend, whom we afterwards ap- 
 pointed as our auditor, who was himself an accountant, 
 we were instructed what kind of books we should 
 require, and how to keep them, and with fair care the 
 difficulty was surmounted. No business can be carried 
 on without system, and the proper keeping of accounts 
 is one of the means of success. It is absolutely neces- 
 sary to know at all times exactly how affairs stand. 
 
 At the end of our first quarter, October 5th, we had 
 a subscribed capital of ^37. 7s. ixd. A short time 
 before we had bought four fine reed cords, and these 
 were allotted to our members to cut. The price of 
 cutting was added to the share account of the cutter. 
 The goods we had to send to the local dyers to finish. 
 
 The fustian trade is mostly carried on by merchants. 
 The makers supply them. Then, again, the dyers and 
 finishers are also a separate class, and the merchants 
 send their goods to these for finishing. 
 
 The occupation of a fustian cutter is such that he is 
 bound to get well acquainted with the best material, 
 and as the makers have their own particular marks, 
 these become well known, and therefore we knew where 
 to buy the goods. The prices we had to find out. 
 
 We calculated from the beginning that the stores 
 would be our customers ; but we had exhausted what 
 little money we had, and could not therefore get to the 
 stores at a distance. We cut patterns of our goods, 
 and sent them enclosed by post to the societies in towns 
 we could not reach by walking to and returning from 
 the same evening. The stores near Hebden Bridge we 
 visited in the evenings, and at other spare times. 
 All correspondence and keeping of accounts, as well as 
 warehouse work, was done in the same way. 
 
 We sold two or three half- pieces on our visit to the 
 committees of the neighbouring stores, and this gave 
 us great encouragement ; but it was the beginning of a 
 
IO 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 very uphill fight. To obtain custom when starting new 
 firms is, I believe, always difficult. I have heard it 
 said that three out of every four who try fail. It was 
 an uphill fight with us, and the difficulty was not 
 lessened because we were co-operative. Indeed, the 
 buyers seemed to think that we wanted trade because 
 we were co-operators, and did not take time to examine 
 the things we had to offer whether they were good 
 value or not. We had thought we had only one 
 difficulty, viz., want of capital ; but we soon found that 
 to obtain trade was equally as difficult. However, we 
 continued to visit the committees and buyers which 
 were near enough to us. 
 
 Our first customers were Hebden Bridge, Mytholm- 
 royd, and Bacup ; Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, and other 
 stores in Calder Vale afterwards. Over Darwen was 
 the first to answer our inquiry by letter, and a good 
 many transactions were made with them there before 
 we ever saw the place, and a good connection has been 
 maintained ever since. 
 
 It was fortunate that the nature of our business 
 was such that we could begin in a small way ; and 
 if we could not go as fast as we could like we were 
 prevented from making great blunders resulting in loss 
 and failure, as too often has been the case in such 
 attempts. Experience was to us a valuable agency, and 
 by it we gradually acquired a knowledge of our business. 
 It may be that in ventures connected with productive 
 co-operation, co-operators too often strive to do some- 
 thing grand, not estimating that there are two organisa- 
 tions to overcome — one of themselves, the other the 
 business — and not exactly seeing their way clear to 
 either of them. 
 
 With us our knowledge of ourselves and the trade 
 and the acquisition of capital and custom have grown 
 side by side. We were now about sixty members, but 
 a good number were falling away, some of whom had 
 never fully completed their initiation, and became 
 hopeless or careless of the society ever doing anything. 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 II 
 
 They joined the class of men who were standing aloof 
 ready at all times to give us the cold shoulder or to 
 speak some twitting word of scorn and contempt. 
 They left us, but those who remained were of more 
 resolute stuff, determined if possible to succeed. 
 
 We took advantage of the conferences of Lancashire 
 and Yorkshire, and persevered in attending the com- 
 mittees of societies on the nights they met, pressing 
 them for trade, and also urging upon them to become 
 members with us. We found that if we were to do 
 the chief part of their trade we must tack about, and 
 begin to make up the fustian into garments. Their 
 ready-made trade far exceeded the sale of their cloth 
 trade. This presented a new difficulty. We had to 
 get to know the lengths of cloth it required to make up 
 garments when a number of regular and various stock 
 sizes were to be cut together or separate, and what 
 would be most serviceable and economical. The same 
 in linings and trimmings, and the sort most suitable. 
 Besides, we had to employ men quite strangers to us 
 and our ideas, and we had to hire them. They cheated 
 us of the stuff which we entrusted to them to make 
 up, and charged us bigger prices than they ought. We 
 did not go on long in this way, but we got a practical 
 cutter, and employed him in the evenings once or twice 
 a week under our own supervision. Then we bought 
 a sewing machine, engaging a machiner and finishers 
 at their homes. These persons we took into member- 
 ship with us, and when we were short of money to pay 
 wages we borrowed from one another. 
 
 At the end of the year 1870 — our first half year— we 
 had ninety-five members ; ^82. 18s. 3d. share capital ; 
 and had done a trade of ^"55 — partly with societies and 
 partly with individuals. We had spent £6. us. lojd. 
 for formation expenses, which included a complete set 
 of account books. We had a stock of £yg. us. 2d., 
 and had made a gain of £3. is. 8d. This was carried 
 forward, not having paid any interest for capital, nor 
 had we charged ourselves with any wages. All the 
 office, warehouse, or other work of any kind was done 
 for love. 
 
12 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 At the close of the half year, June, 1871, we began 
 to think of going into larger premises, where we could 
 have our sewing machines and all our work done in 
 the same building. Fortunately, an eligible place 
 became vacant which had been used for the same 
 trade. We rented the premises at ^13 per annum, 
 and transferred all our stock and machines. 
 
 We gave up the plan of having the fustian cutting 
 done in turn because of delays, and we employed 
 regular cutters, one of whom also superintended the 
 workshop and packed the goods, &c., to fill up his 
 time. We were doing now a trade of about ^30 a 
 month, half in piece-goods and half in garments. 
 
 In the autumn, Mr. Lloyd Jones was on a lecturing 
 tour among the stores, and he came to visit us. He 
 gave three lectures in the neighbourhood. He was 
 greatly delighted with our organisation, and one of our 
 number, a countryman of his, presented to him a small 
 cutting knife. His influence in the co-operative move- 
 ment was of considerable advantage to us, and he gave 
 us great encouragement. 
 
 It was through him that the Wholesale Society were 
 induced to become our agents, a connection which we 
 have cultivated, and it still is one of the main sources 
 of our trade. Our goods were advertised in the Price 
 List. The Scottish Wholesale soon after became our 
 agents in Scotland. We had the Society and the goods 
 advertised in the Congress Report, and in the other 
 co-operative publications. We took samples to all the 
 conferences in the heart of the movement, and never 
 let slip an opportunity to push ourselves into the notice 
 of co-operators. They kindly received us, and our 
 efforts had their hearty assistance. 
 
 Our second half year found us in an improved 
 position, and the Committee passed a resolution to 
 recommend the general meeting to allow a dividend 
 to labour at the rate of 5 per cent, which was con- 
 firmed at a special general meeting of the members, 
 held July 29th. There wae rather a stiff opposition 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 13 
 
 from some of the friends whom we had taken into 
 membership, and who were not with us when we 
 started. This idea of dividend to labour created some 
 excitement, too, among the outside public, and although 
 a small part only was recommended, it was regarded 
 as a new-fangled notion, and one that could not be just 
 to the shareholder. Later on we had more difficulty. 
 In the movement this is a contentious matter yet, but 
 successful experience and the best thought of the 
 Congress have determined in its favour, and it should 
 be allowed that labour ought to hire capital, pay it its 
 wages, and make it the first charge on the profits at 
 current rates only, and then let the remainder go to the 
 labourer or to labour and trade. Dividend to purchase 
 was not allowed in our Society until the end of 1872. 
 
 Our trade for the year 1871 was £ 712 . 7s. 8d., with 
 a share capital of ^523, and we realised a profit of 
 ^42. 18s. 7d. In the year 1872 we did a trade of 
 ^”4,636. 15s. 6d., and made a profit of ^269. 6s. 4d. At 
 the middle of the year we had a capital of ^1,512, and 
 at the end ^2,697. We paid to eighteen workpeople 
 ^303, and to twenty-four workpeople ^403 in wages 
 respectively, in the half years last named. We paid to 
 labour in the latter half of 1871, is. in the £, and in 
 the former part of 1872 also is,, in the latter half, 6d., 
 in proportion to the wages paid. The latter year shows 
 an increase of trade 6£ times the former, and a profit 
 about the same proportion. 
 
 The years 1871 and 1872 were eventful years in the 
 movement, and a great deal of our success 'may be 
 attributed to the county and district conferences, the 
 latter of which were just being initiated in the Airedale, 
 Calderdale, and Dewsbury districts. We at once allied 
 ourselves with the Calderdale district organisation, 
 and were soon taking an active part on the executive. 
 The Airedale societies had preceded us in this new 
 movement, and they had also made a start in co-oper- 
 ative production at Idle. 
 
 In the latter year was held the Bolton Congress, 
 which was presided over by Mr. Thomas Hughes. 
 
14 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 There were present at this Congress quite a number 
 of Christian Socialists — Messrs. Hughes, Ludlow, E. 
 Vansittart Neale, and others. They spoke favourably 
 of true co-operative production, and earnestly persuaded 
 Congress to give assistance to such societies. These 
 men are charged with dealing merely in sentiment, yet 
 there will always be a debt of gratitude due to them 
 for the grand work they have done. The report of the 
 death of their leader — Professor Frederick Denison 
 Maurice — came while the Congress was sitting, and 
 cast a gloom over the proceedings. There was heart- 
 felt sorrow at the loss of one who had done much to 
 promote co-operative production. 
 
 At Congress and among the conference associations, 
 a few of us, who had chiefly to do with our Society, 
 formed new and congenial friendships. Some were 
 young men and full of life and vigour ; others older, 
 wise and discriminating — all yearning for the full 
 fruition of the same hopes and aspirations, that the 
 labouring masses should fully share in the comforts 
 which a Divine Providence has designed that industry 
 should bring. 
 
 The Society grew, it was fostered, and lived in us, 
 and formed part of our lives, and was always in our 
 thoughts. No day was too sacred for us on which to 
 devise and seek the association of men whose bent was 
 similar to our own, and confer with them on our and 
 similar undertakings. It may shock some minds to 
 know that we met on Sundays, and talked about our 
 obstacles, and how we made progress. At first our 
 social Sunday gatherings were confined to the nooks 
 and corners of the valley of the Hebden, and at the 
 firesides of friends near. Then we planned excursions 
 further. Friends came to see us. and we went to see 
 them. The fields and the lanes, the wild flowers and 
 the ferns — just opening their young fronds, and the 
 bright green tints of the tender leaves of spring were to 
 us made more beautiful. The purple moorlands and 
 the nut brown shades of October had charms made all 
 the sweeter and mellower. The streams from the hills 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 15 
 
 dashing down their stony beds, the glistening of the 
 sunlight on the white roads and on the mossy and fern- 
 tufted banks by the river and the footpath, were made 
 more delightful. We felt we were doing God’s work, 
 and in that faith and communion we were content. 
 
 In the middle of the year 1873 we were employing 
 twenty-four persons. All were settled in their proper 
 places, and the work of the shop was going on regularly. 
 We had much more regular employment than formerly, 
 when we were working for private firms, and were com- 
 paratively removed from anxiety and doubt in regard to 
 our earnings. Of the twenty-four persons, only four 
 were of our own trade, i.e., of those who were members 
 at the beginning. The remainder had just been made 
 members by their dividend, under a new rule we had 
 passed. The principle of crediting dividend to labour 
 was bringing into the Society men and women who 
 had had nothing to do with its formation, and thus 
 they reaped where they had not so wn, and secured 
 advantages which they could not have done otherwise. 
 There was a change going on, and the Society was 
 drifting by force of circumstances to take along with it 
 only a small portion of the founders. 
 
 It was a cruel fate, but we could not help this 
 occurring. It was plain we could only draw the mem- 
 bers into the workshop as the necessity grew to engage 
 them. Out of the sixty members who were with us at 
 first, thirty-two had sold out, many because no work 
 could be found for them in the shop, and we had dis- 
 continued the practice of sending out work to usie 
 fustian-cutters in turn at their homes, because we had 
 so much trouble and loss by its being kept too long 
 when wanted. It was painful, too, to find that there were 
 a few more who were again losing faith, but there were 
 a greater number who sold out for gain. The shares 
 were now at a higher premium. While this change 
 was going on, there was another taking place with the 
 individual shareholder, who sought to keep all the 
 profits to share capital. Of the ^2,331 of capital at the 
 
l6 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 end of June, 178 individuals held ^1,302, while for the 
 remainder there were forty-three societies and the 
 twenty-four workmen and workwomen. There were, 
 of course, some among the individuals of our own 
 sort, ix ., those who were striving to establish the 
 principle of dividend to labour. 
 
 The steady progress of the society had given the 
 investors confidence, and they were receiving high 
 interest on their investments. The society had paid 
 once 10 per cent, and the three last times 12^ per cent. 
 We had been in want of capital, and the rate of 
 interest was likely, by the number of this class of 
 members it was bringing, to crush out almost the only 
 thing we had worth striving for, viz., the power to build 
 up by industrial partnership a position of independence 
 for the worker. 
 
 The time was favourable for profit-making. The 
 joint-stock movement was just then in high favour. The 
 spirit of little capitalists was insatiable, and even 
 co-operators, so-called, hastened to get rich in this 
 fashion. We felt we were under the necessity of 
 checking this spirit in our society, and we sought 
 counsel among our co-operative friends. They sympa- 
 thised with us in our effort to check this wrong, and 
 after the committee had closed the share list to indi- 
 viduals, they helped us at our general meeting to fix 
 the rate of interest at 7% per cent. This took effect in 
 July, 1873. 
 
 The rate of ji per cent was considered at that time 
 very moderate for money put in such risk. The bank 
 rate was ruling at about 6 per cent. The idea of a fixed 
 rate of interest has taken root, but it is one of the 
 greatest failings in the co-operative movement. The 
 stores have paid 5 per cent when not more than 
 2 per cent or per cent could be obtained for 
 money at call elsewhere, and in this way they have 
 punished their trade and the poorer purchasing mem- 
 bers, while they have been placed in a position so that 
 they could not supply funds for productive enterprise 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 17 
 
 unless at high dividend. The reduction to 7^ per 
 cent gave us considerable scope for an extended trade 
 at that time. 
 
 At the end of 1872 we had a trade connection with 
 130 societies, and were increasing at the end of the 
 half year following in equal ratio. We were in con- 
 sequence, looking out for larger premises. This time 
 we thought if it was possible we would get to some 
 place so that we should not need to move again — some 
 premises where we could carry out more fully the first 
 intentions of the society. The general meeting of 
 
 S , 1873, authorised us to lease or purchase an estate. 
 
 Nutclough estate was settled on, which place was 
 then understood to be open for sale. This was a 
 desirable position and near the railway station. It was 
 most suitable for our trade ; there was a stream o 
 good soft water, a little four-storied mill, a good water- 
 fall, engine and boiler, a good residence, and about 
 four acres of land. The step, if it was to be taken, as 
 a charge upon the trade we were then doing would 
 have been a great folly ; but with a dyeing trade con- 
 nection in prospect, coupled with our own requirements, 
 there would be a fairly good prospect of keeping on our 
 legs. The upper parts of the mill we could use for 
 tailoring and the fustian trade, and the lower parts for 
 dyeing and cutting. 
 
 Our capital was too small for such a project, but on 
 the understanding that the neighbouring stores or the 
 Wholesale Society would advance on mortgage we 
 bought the estate. We got a loan from the Wholesale, 
 and we instructed Mr. Whiley, of Manchester, to effect 
 a purchase, which was completed and we entered into 
 possession in September, just three years after our 
 being enrolled. The cost of the estate was ^5,650; 
 and the alterations, fixtures, and machinery we put in, 
 cost ^3»5 I 4* 
 
 We now started our dyeing department, and waited 
 upon the merchants to do dyeing and finishing for 
 them, and after a short time succeeded in getting a 
 
l8 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 connection. The trade of the merchants was not 
 quite as difficult to get as had been our other trade. 
 This class oi customers knew exactly what they wanted, 
 and when they were well served. This must be said 
 in all deference to committee buyers of small stores. 
 
 We could now find employment for a few more of our 
 members who were dyers and cutters. The prospect, 
 too, ot making some real advance in the way of secure 
 and constant employment was more hopeful. The 
 security of our positions in the workshop and the 
 receipt of regular wages were giving to our families 
 and homes a higher state of comfort than workers of 
 the same class elsewhere. The small amount falling 
 due to share account from labour profits was not large, 
 but it was the beginning of a new principle which it 
 was hoped would, in the end, be the means of raising 
 the condition of the worker, and would certainly remove 
 the cause of strife between employers and employed. 
 There were now about thirty-six women machiners 
 and finishers, and about eighteen men cutters and 
 dyers. Our employment depended upon ourselves, and 
 we strove to do our duty. At our half-yearly meetings 
 and conferences the women and men have always 
 taken an interest in the business and other meetings, 
 giving what support their ability and judgment dictated. 
 We gradually extended this part of our trade and 
 membership, as the comparison of the figures for the 
 years 1873 and 1874 show. 
 
 In the comparison it should be also stated that there 
 were fifty-two societies members with us at the end of 
 
 1873, among them the leading stores in Lancashire 
 and Yorkshire, and also the Wholesale Society. They 
 had a share investment to the amount of ^1,433, which 
 increased to ^3,582 at the end of 1874. 
 
 The total share and loan capital December, 1873, 
 was ^10,193, of which ^7,000 was loan. December, 
 
 1874, share and loan was ^13,421. The trade for the 
 year 1873 was ^*6,85 6, profit, ^426. The trade in 1874 
 ^12,626, profit ^797, after paying ^450 for loan. We 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 
 
 19 
 
 paid to thirty-four workpeople in 1873^1,081 wages; 
 weekly average, ^31. In 1874 to fifty-four workpeople 
 we paid ^2,320 ; weekly average ^42. 
 
 During the years 1874 an d 187 5 there was growing 
 up a great abuse of the labour rule. Employes having 
 left the service of the Society and owning one or two 
 shares, which that privilege had given them, were 
 pestered and tempted to dispose of them at high 
 premiums. The rules of the Society allowed at that 
 time that all shareholders who had not taken the full — 
 viz., 100 shares — could do so if they could become 
 members, the share list being closed to outside indi- 
 viduals. This was done so that the buyer could 
 have ninety-nine shares (or as the case might be) at 
 par, bearing interest at seven-and-a-half per cent. 
 
 The abuse was creating great dissatisfaction, and a 
 Committee were appointed to revise the rules. There 
 were also some other alterations required to be done. 
 This Committee was opposed to labour having any 
 share in the profits, and they struck out the rule 
 giving profits to labour under the pretence of curing 
 the mischief. They could thus destroy the principle 
 of sharing profits to labour, and it looked as if the 
 doom of our most vital principle had come. The 
 business of the Society was going on all right, but 
 disagreements and divisions prevailed on the Com- 
 mittee and among the members. It was a serious 
 time. 
 
 The general meeting was held to consider the altered 
 rules. The proposed alterations had become generally 
 known in the Co-operative movement, and one of the 
 leaders wrote (Mr. Greening) a letter to the News calling 
 on all shareholding societies to give their support on 
 the side of sharing profits with the worker, and during the 
 meeting a telegram arrived and it was announced that 
 the Scottish Wholesale supported the principle. A few 
 individual members were in favour of the workers, and 
 mostly society representatives were on the same side. 
 Society shareholders and working shareholders had 
 
20 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 increased. The delegates from societies sat mixed with 
 the individuals in the meeting, but the women 
 workers sat mostly together. Minor alterations were 
 agreed to, but the signs of strife were upon the 
 countenances of the chief persons who were about to 
 take part in the main struggle. The Chairman seemed 
 to be in a nervous state. The Society’s representative, 
 who above all others should have been in favour of the 
 worker, led the way, and moved the adoption of the 
 altered rules. This was seconded. There was one 
 member who was in at the foundation of the Society 
 who sat gloomy, drawing his breath very quick, but 
 feeling intensely moved. He was not gifted with the 
 power of speech, but he felt the duty lay upon him, 
 and he got up and clearly stated the purpose for which 
 the Society was started, going from point to point, and 
 charging the promoters of the alterations with breaking 
 an obligation and doing a great wrong to the men who 
 were the founders and who had made the Society a 
 success. He moved the rejection of the altered rules. 
 This was seconded by a former President, and one who 
 had done great service to the Society. He could not 
 let go the principle for which as Co-operators they had 
 striven so much, and felt bound to support it. 
 
 The meeting afterwards drifted into a most inex- 
 tricable confusion, when a delegate from a large society 
 in a Yorkshire town got up in the midst of the hubbub 
 whistling a popular tune. The audacity of the act at 
 once arrested the attention of the meeting, and before 
 the Chairman had time to call order he at once 
 addressed himself to the question at issue, giving his 
 support to the latter motion. There could be no doubt 
 now about the result, the meeting was so demonstra- 
 tively in favour of the speaker’s argument. The altered 
 rules were rejected. Mr. E. Vansittart Neale after- 
 wards made the alterations to meet our requirements. 
 These were adopted and registered. The Society was 
 saved. It was destined to do still more for the worker. 
 It was to be a leader in the van of the organisation of 
 labour. 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 21 
 
 The following figures taken from the Balance Sheet 
 for December 31st, 1887, will give an idea of the 
 Society’s present position : No. of Members, 553, of 
 which 193 are societies, 167 employes, and 193 other 
 persons; Share Capital, ^18,840, of which ^8,438 
 belongs to societies, ^2,730 to employes, and ^7,672 to 
 other persons; Loan Capital, £5, 873, of which £1,000 
 belongs to societies, £185 to employes, and £4,688 to 
 other persons. The sales for the half year ending 
 December 31st, 1887, amounted to £14,554; Profit for 
 the half year £1,592. os. id., apportioned as follows: — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Dividend on A shares at 7$ per cent per annum .. •• 621 18 9 
 „ B shares at 5 per cent per annum .. .. 39 n 11 
 
 „ Withdrawable shares at 7J per cent per 
 
 annum 18 12 7J 
 
 Members’ purchases 069,037) at gd. in the 
 
 „ Non-Members’ purchases (£2,200) at 4^d. 
 
 in the £ 41 5 o 
 
 „ Labour (£4,438) at gd. in the £ .. .. 166 8 6 
 
 Amount to reserve fund 300 o o 
 
 Amount to educational fund 20 o o 
 
 Balance carried forward .. •« 45 5 6| 
 
 £i, 592 o 1 
 
 Statement of payments towards share capital, 
 earnings by labour, dividend, amount withdrawn, and 
 amount now in the Society, of six workers, from the 
 date of becoming workers and members : — 
 
 
 Date ol 
 
 Amount 
 
 Total bonus 
 
 Amount 
 
 Amount 
 
 Noo 
 
 entry. 
 
 paid in. 
 
 on wages. 
 
 withdrawn. 
 
 now in. 
 
 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ 
 
 S. 
 
 d. 
 
 I •• 
 
 Dec., 1870 . . 
 
 , ig 12 
 
 3 • 
 
 • 22 17 
 
 6.. 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 2 . , 
 
 • 30 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 2 .. 
 
 June, 1873 .. 
 
 , 100 0 
 
 0 . 
 
 • 19 19 
 
 9.. 
 
 76 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 . IOO 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 3 .. 
 
 June, 1874 . . 
 
 , 10 10 
 
 9 • 
 
 . 20 g 
 
 0.. 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 iL- 
 
 . 20 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 4 - 
 
 Dec., 1875 . , 
 
 . 27 10 
 
 14 - 
 
 . 21 1 
 
 0.. 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 
 7 *" 
 
 • 30 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 5 .. 
 
 Dec., 1872 . , 
 
 . 1 8 
 
 0 . 
 
 . 13 12 
 
 3 - 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 i£.. 
 
 • 15 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 6 .. 
 
 Dec., 1872 . , 
 
 • 23 1 
 
 Il£. 
 
 • 17 1 5 
 
 3 -- 
 
 29 
 
 0 
 
 7*- 
 
 • 30 
 
 O 
 
 0 
 
 If share capital had been fixed at 5 per cent instead 
 of Ji per cent, the bonus to labour would have been at 
 least doubled. The amounts paid in have accumulated 
 from savings from time to time. 
 
22 
 
 HEBDEN BRIDGE FUSTIAN 
 
 The following comparisons of the position of the 
 Society in the years 1873 an d will doubtless be 
 interesting : — 
 
 1873 . 
 
 Number of Members. 
 
 Co-operative societies 52 
 
 Employes 34 
 
 Individuals 170 
 
 Total 256 
 
 Share Capital. £ 
 
 Co-operative societies .. 1,433 
 
 Employes 113 
 
 Individuals 1.648 
 
 Total 3,194 
 
 Loan capital 7,000 
 
 Sales for year 1873 6,856 
 
 Profits 426 
 
 Wages 1,081 
 
 Average weekly wages, £17. 6s. 
 
 Total value of machinery and fixtures 2,576 
 
 Reserve fund 127 
 
 Total amount paid to labour to this date 50 
 
 1887 . 
 
 Number of Members. 
 
 Co-operative societies 193 
 
 Employes 167 
 
 Individuals .. .. 193 
 
 Total 553 
 
 Share Capital. £ 
 
 Co-operative societies 8,438 
 
 Employes 2,730 
 
 Individuals •• •« 7,672 
 
 Total. . . . 18,840 
 
MANUFACTURING SOCIETY. 23 
 
 Loan Capital. £ 
 
 Co-operative societies 1,000 
 
 Employes 185 
 
 Individuals 4,688 
 
 Total 5,873 
 
 Sales for 1887 27,135 
 
 Profits 2,813 
 
 Wages * 8,663 
 
 Present average weekly wages, from ^180 to ^200. 
 
 Present value of land 5,054 
 
 Present value of buildings and fixed stock I 4,536 
 
 Total 19,590 
 
 Total depreciation written off 4>750 
 
 Reserve fund 1,654 
 
 Total amount paid to labour I ,544 
 
 The Society was started in 1870 ; business, fustian 
 cutting and making of ready-made clothing. In 1877 
 the share list was closed to individuals, but kept open 
 to workers and societies. In 1874 dyeing business 
 was started. In 1886 the weaving of fustians was 
 commenced. 
 
 Present number of employes, 206. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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