イギリス産業革命期における協同組合運動

There were, categorically speaking, two types of co-operative movements in England. The Owenite one was, viewing from the point of consumers' co-operative movement, not so successful as in the Rochdale one. But the former has a significant meaning, for it must be appreciated as a link in the chain of Owen's critical activities toward the factory system. Owen was, according to author's view, not a critic toward capitalism in general but, on the contrary, an ardent admirer for the self-sustaining industry by the labouring capitalist. The author tried to trace Owen's and followers' intention of co-operative movement through his works and some contemporary publications. The result is this, that Owen wanted to recover or to maintain workers' independence which was stolen or being crippled by factory system. But it being, in practice, impossible to do so one by one in the face of competition challenged by factory, he tried to have them recovered independence collectively. Consumer's co-operative movement was to him not an aim but a means for collective independence. The famous "Equitable Labour Exchange" was also started as a means of accumulating funds for "colony". If one has a glance at his plan of "colony", his yearning for workers' independence would be recognized. The "colony" should be formed according to follwing two principles: denial of division of labour and exclusion of competition. The former would guarantee workers' independence by way of combining "gardening" and "manufacuring". It was natural and reasonable that those who had been defeated in the competition with factory wished to eliminate any competition in order to keep the "colony" life in peace. Owenite "shops", in spite of their lofty idealism, failed in their scheme in a short time. The author tried to find out the cause of failure and attributed it to lack of the tendency of "Kapitalrechnung" among co-operators. It was natural that Owenite co-operators who hated competition lacked in "Kapitalrechnung" which resulted from "Kampf des Menschen mit dem Menschen"(M.Weber). Honest co-operators, therefore, could not cure betrayers, that is those who embezzled the accumulated funds or who left "shops" in order to trade separately after drawing their own portion of funds. It was their intention that was to be self-sustaining traders themselves. But they were quite different from "yeomen" and were thoroughly posessed by the detestable feeling of emulation. The Rochdale Pioneers, on the contrary, was based on quite different principles: open membership and distribution of surplus, in proportion to transaction. Both of them were the disagree-able to Owenite one. But they were effective to prosper consummes' co-operative shops, for they encourage the members to accumulate capital and to start "shops" one by one.