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United States Post-office, Oakland, Cal. - Carrom St. Baptist Additional: Reference-room: Public Library, Milwaukee, Wis. NOTES AND CLIPPINGS. 81 83 85 86 87 No. 1303. it a perfect sheet of smaller size than the original. It is obviously a hopeless task to conduct with success a business requiring so much economy and foresight as that of building on such principles as these and it would not be long before, in actual practice, the union-trained coöperative organizations would go to the wall, to give place to the active and ambitious men who have always found union rules intolerable. ON N the other hand, coöperation, by associations of resolute and independent, as well as as skilful and industrious, mechanics, would find, as we have long maintained, a particularly favorable field in building-operations. In manufacturing, where coöperation has principally been tried, it is necessary for the great majority to give up their independence, and submit to the direction of a chosen foreman, or, possibly, a managing committee. This is hard, especially to people in whom the gentler qualities have not been developed; and the fact that so many coöperative factories are conducted harmoniously and successfully says much for the capacity of workingpeople for amiable self-sacrifice; but in a building association, composed of masons, carpenters, plasterers, plumbers, painters, and so on, every man would have his own independent province, in which he would be supreme, only needing to accommodate his work to that of his associates, which he could do without loss of dignity. In regard to the capital required for conduct88 ing such a business, there need be no difficulty, and the elaborate system of labor checks which Mr. Putnam advocates seems to us not only unnecessary, calculated to attract to 87 HE scheme proposed time ago by Mr. John Picker Ting Putnam, under which unemployed mechanics are ice cooperative associations the shiftless, improvident men, whe seems allowed to work on certain buildings, receiving their pay in checks, which are to be convertible into such goods as may be at the disposal of the organization having the affair in charge, and are to entitle the holder to participate in the profit, if any, derived from the sale of buildings so constructed, has been brought forward again in Boston, at a public meeting, and to have been very favorably received by benevolent people and, strange to say, by representatives of certain tradesunions, who appear to have been attracted by the provision that none but members of unions shall be admitted to the benefits of the scheme, without reflecting that the acceptance of the principle of coöperation means death to trades-unionism as now understood. We need hardly say that we have been earnest advocates of coöperation, particularly in the buildingtrades, for many years, and the fact that, at the Boston meeting, the proprietor of a department-store pledged himself to accept checks of the sort described at par for goods, to the amount of ten thousand dollars, while the President of the Ruskin Hall Association offered to lease a suitable building, erected under the new system, at a rent which would pay six per cent on the capital invested, indicates that the public is also becoming interested in the matter; but with sincere wishes for the success of coöperation in general, and of this enterprise in particular, we cannot say that we think the plan a very promising one. O limit participation in the proposed coöperative enterprises to members of unions is to restrict it to people who have more or less lost the independence of character and capacity for thinking for themselves which are essential to success in business; while the slow, wasteful and careless habits of work fostered by union methods would make it impossible for persons trained in them to compete with the alert, active and independent non-unionists, who, it must be remembered, are not likely to let the union coöperators have a profitable business all to themselves. Everybody knows the story of the Chicago steam-fitters' union, which attempted to fix a maximum of work, which no member must exceed, at about one-third the amount that a man of ordinary skill could easily do in a day; and of the English bricklayers' union, one of whose rules was, and probably still is, that no member should be allowed to spread mortar with one hand, and hold a brick, ready to set in place, in the other, but that one hand only must be used, and that the trowel must be laid down, and a brick taken up with the same hand; and it is said to be a rule of the English glaziers' union that, even if a corner only is broken in a large sheet of glass, the glazier called to repair it must smash the whole sheet to pieces, for fear that some one may cut from As would soon bring any business to ruin. Among mechanics capable of joining successfully in such an enterprise, there are few who would not have some money saved up, which they could, in case of need, invest in it. If they were sure of their associates, they would probably be glad to make an investment, the return on which might reasonably be expected to be satisfactory, and might be greatly increased by their own prudence and industry; and if they had not confidence enough in their associates to contribute any money to the common capital, they would do best to keep out of the association altogether. suming, however, the necessary confidence in each other's honesty and ability, an association of twenty members, which would be large enough for modest building-operations, should be able to raise without difficulty a capital of two thousand dollars, or one hundred dollars apiece, which would be ample. Many a building-contractor does a large business on a capital of five hundred dollars, but the interest account is a heavy one in such cases, and there is economy, and consequent profit, in being able to command a larger sum. To any one who, like most architects, has seen the indifference and jealousy of ordinary workmen, and has reckoned the cost of the delays and misunderstandings which follow from them, the margin for profit in a building business carried on by men with a common understanding, and a common interest in having the work go on smoothly and economically, seems something enormous. We have heard it said that half the labor-cost, in building work, might be saved by intelligent coöperation, stimulated by the knowledge that the saving would go into the pockets of the workmen. This is, of course, far too large an estimate, but a saving of one-fifth of the labor-cost would double the ordinary builder's profit. The principal danger to be feared in the conduct of such associations would be dishonesty, not among the members, but in outsiders. The worst of all the influences which tend to depress the poor, and inflate the fortunes of the very rich, is to be found in the laxness of the laws in regard to the punishment of dishonesty. There are few workingmen who do not lose a large part of the money which they earn by their industry through the dishonesty of other people. If they are employed, their employer perhaps pays them only in part, or not at all; if they save up a little money, they lose it through swindling investments, or through non-paying tenants, or by any of the thousand and one schemes by which thieves live at the expense of honest people. A coöperative association of mechanics inexperienced in business would be the object of attacks from a multitude of the worst sharpers in the community. Even savings-bank officials, to say nothing of contractors, are constantly made victims by these scoundrels, who, under present conditions, practice their arts with complete impunity. Where so much responsibility must be taken, on a limited capital, as in building operations, a small imprudence might sweep away the savings of an association, and, until different ideas prevail in regard to the distinction between legal and moral crimes, the cause of cooperative industry will advance slowly. PRO ROFESSOR LANCIANI is one of the most interesting of writers, and his work grows still more interesting as the explorations with which he is connected advance farther into the region of the legendary or the unknown. In a recent lecture before the Royal Institute of British Architects, he spoke of the latest results of the excavations in the Roman Forum. As most architects know, the explorations in the Forum have until lately been carried only to the level of the pavements of the Imperial period, but, within the past two or three years, systematic investigations have been made into the remains of a more ancient Rome, lying beneath the constructions of the Cæsars. It is quite likely that the works of Mommsen and other historians of his school, who treat everything not supported by documentary evidence as romance, and look upon Livy as a mere collector of fairy tales, influenced the Directors of the excavations, who, even if they in their hearts believed the noble old traditions of their country, would, perhaps the more on that account, be reluctant to order explorations which might prove them to be without foundation. However that may be, it is certain that for some twenty years the investigaof the Imperial period, and it was not until the influence of the German school of history had somewhat died away, and the ancient legends had received unexpected support from the discoveries at Alba Longa and elsewhere in the neighborhood of Rome, that Professor Lanciani and the Commendatore Boni were authorized to excavate portions of the Forum down to the virgin soil. tions in and about the Forum were devoted to the monuments LMOST the first discovery that rewarded this work was that of the tomb of Romulus, that hero whom Mommsen derided as being a purely imaginary creation, and whom even the best friends of the Roman tradition hardly thought to be more than a personification of the rough and energetic race which founded the city. Digging in the open space known as the Comitium, in front of the remains of the Curia, or SenateHouse, the explorers soon found a slab of black marble, the "lapis niger" of the Imperial historians, which had been, under the Empire, surrounded by a low marble curb. Whether this black stone really marked, as Professor Lanciani once thought, the spot where Julius Cæsar fell under the daggers of Brutus and Cassius, he does not now say, but the assassination must have taken place close by, and it is not impossible that Cæsar, treacherously attacked, may have retreated to the existing enclosure, where he would be less exposed to assailants from behind. As the black stone was only at the level of the pavement of the Comitium in Cæsar's time, it was necessary to excavate under it to reach the earlier soil, and an astonishing discovery was made. Below the stone were found a walled chamber, containing a cenotaph, or empty sarcophagus, guarded by a stone lion on each side; an altar; a sacrificial stone, and a pyramidal pillar covered with an inscription. The cenotaph was filled with earth and decomposed organic matter, supposed to be from the blood of the sacrificial animals, which ancient custom allowed to flow into the tomb of the hero worshipped; and the whole enclosure was choked with earth, bones of victims, small vases, and statuettes of terra-cotta, bone and bronze. The inscription on the stone has not yet been read, as it is two hundred years older than the most ancient Latin inscription previously discovered, and sixty per cent of the words in it are of unknown significance, but it is now generally agreed that it belongs to the time of Numa Pompilius, and was set up by him, or by his successor, in honor of Romulus, whose empty sarcophagus, with its lion guards, was placed close by, and was made an object of public worship, as the ancient legends of Rome affirm. HERE is something very agreeable in the thought of pursuing archæological exploration in Rome beyond the corrupt and cruel period of the Emperors into the purer atmosphere of the time of Mucius Scævola, Quintus Curtius and the Horatii, and the discovery of the undoubted tomb of the half-divine son of Rhea Silvia will renew the courage of the partisans of tradition. Meanwhile, another tradition has been curiously verified. Excavating, later, in the building known as the Regia, farther southward in the Forum, a circular structure was found in the middle of the inner hall, with an altar attached, and a pit, or store-room, below. According to ancient tradition, the spears of Mars were kept in a sanctuary in the Regia, and, in the course of the excavations, two spears were these weapons were actually found, with wooden shafts and iron points. Whether ever in possession of the war-god the quite clearly the identity of the circular structure with the reader can judge for himself; but the finding of them indicates Chapel of Mars. M. PLANAT makes, in La Construction Moderne, some sensible reflections on the recent Paris Exposition. That it was financially unsuccessful, although less so than has been reported, he does not deny, but he thinks that the philosophical way to treat the matter is to try to ascertain the causes of its misfortunes, for guidance in the future. The first of these causes, apart from political disturbances, he thinks to have been the vast extent of the Exposition. Although the ground occupied by the Exposition buildings was about the same in area as at Chicago, the territory utilized in Paris was so scattered that sheer fatigue prevented visitors from being able to visit the exhibits in comfort. On the south side of the Seine a very imperfect communication between the different groups of buildings was provided by the movable platform and the electric-railway; but on the north side there was nothing of the kind, and visitors who wished to go from the Place de la Concorde to the Trocadéro were obliged either to walk, or to leave the Exposition grounds, take passage on a steamboat or an omnibus, and enter them again at their destination. M. Planat says that this result was foreseen from the beginning by experienced persons, but the number of applications for space by intending exhibitors was so great that the Commission yielded, against its judgment, to the demand for accommodation. That the exhibitors, as well as the administration, would have profited by a restriction of the space is shown by the fact which M. Planat notes, that where the buildings, as was the case with all the important ones in the Champ de Mars, had two stories, the upper story was practically deserted throughout the Exposition. Many of the most interesting exhibits were placed there, and staircases were liberally provided; but absolute physical fatigue prevented nearly all who were not professionally interested in the things shown from reaching them. In much the same way, the annex at Vincennes, where were shown balloons, automobiles, railwayappliances, boats and many other interesting objects, was nearly deserted. Except free passes and exhibitors' cards, practically no tickets were taken at the entrance. The reason for this could not have been that visitors to the Exposition did not know of the existence of the Vincennes annex, for this was announced by a multitude of placards in the main buildings; but the limit of endurance seems to have been reached, with most people, when the journey from the Place de la Concorde to the Trocadéro, and back by the Champ de Mars to the Esplanade, had been accomplished, and no one wished to sacrifice a part of this for the secondary attractions of Vincennes. CASE of interest to those who have dealings with corporations, public or private, was decided in England a few weeks ago. The Finchley School Board employed one Holloway as Director of Works in connection with certain buildings, and the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the School Board took Holloway to a firm of metal-dealers, introduced him to the manager, and told him that he might supply goods at Holloway's order. In course of time the School Board discharged Holloway, and sent word to the metal-dealers not to supply goods to any one without the authority of the architect. Holloway, however, ordered some goods, which were delivered, and the bill sent to the School Board, which refused payment. It seems as if Holloway must have used the goods for his own benefit, for the dealers next applied to him, and he agreed to pay for them, but failed to do so. Then they concluded to sue the School Board, on the ground that Holloway had been the authorized agent of the Board. On the trial, the judge, very properly, withdrew the case from the jury, and ordered judgment for the defendants, saying that the plaintiffs ought to have required an officially sealed order from the Board before supplying the goods. |