Samuel Smiles

The Rochdale Corn-mill grew out of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, which formed an epoch in the history of industrial co-operative…

The weekly subscription was twopence each; and when about fifty-two calls of twopence each had been made, they found that they were able to buy a…

The society grew. It established a store for the sale of food, firing, clothes, and other necessaries. In a few years the members set on foot the Co-…

The society continued to increase until it possessed eleven branches for the sale of goods and stores in or near Rochdale, besides the original…

But this was not all. Two and a half per cent. was appropriated from the net profits to support the news-rooms and library; and there are now…

The example of the Rochdale Pioneers has exercised a powerful influence on working-men throughout the northern counties of England. There is scarcely…

The example has also spread into Scotland and the south of England. At Northampton, a co-operative society exists for the purpose of buying and…

The sole secret of their success consists in "ready money." They give no credit. Everything is done for cash; the profit of the trade being divided…

Land and Building Societies constitute another form of co-operation. These are chiefly supported by the minor middle-class men, but also to a…

The accumulation of property has the effect which it always has upon thrifty men; it makes them steady, sober, and diligent. It weans them from…

It has been said that Freehold Land Societies, which were established for political objects, had the effect of weaning men from political reform.…

There are also exceptional towns and villages in Lancashire where large sums of money have been saved by the operatives for buying or building…

Building Societies are, on the whole, among the most excellent methods of illustrating the advantages of Thrift. They induce men to save money for…

Two other methods of co-operative saving remain to be mentioned. The first is by Life Assurance, which enables widows and children to be provided for…

It might possibly take a long time to save enough money to provide for those who are dependent upon us; and there is always the temptation to…

The person who joins an assurance society is in a different position. His annual or quarterly saving becomes at once a portion of a general fund,…

Life assurance may be described as a joint-stock plan for securing widows, and children from want. It is an arrangement by means of which a large…

We often hear of men who have been diligent and useful members of society, dying and leaving their wives and families in absolute poverty. They…

Conduct such as this is not only thoughtless and improvident, but heartless and cruel in the last degree. To bring a family into the world, give them…

It will be admitted, that the number of men who can lay by a sufficient store of capital for the benefit of their families, is, in these times of…

Take the case of a married man with a family. He has begun business, and thinks that if his life were spared, he might in course of years be able…

Now, if he had deposited this twelve or thirteen pounds yearly in a bank, or employed it at interest, it would have taken about twenty years before…

In this way, life assurance may be regarded in the light of a contract, by which the inequalities of life are to a certain extent averaged and…

The Friendly or Benefit Societies of the working classes are also Co-operative Societies under another form. They cultivate the habit of prudent self…

English benefit societies, notwithstanding their great uses and benefits, have numerous defects. There are faults in the details of their…

To quote the words of the Registrar of Friendly Societies, in a recent report: "Though the information thus far obtained is not very encouraging as…

The workmen's societies originated for the most part in a common want, felt by persons of small means, unable to accumulate any considerable store of…

Many persons object to Friendly Societies because they are conducted at public-houses; because many of them are got up by the keepers of…

It so happens that the world cannot be conducted on superfine principles. To most men, and especially to the men we are speaking of, it is a rough,…

A vigorous effort was made by Mr. Akroyd of Halifax, in 1856, to establish a Provident Sick Society and Penny Savings Bank for the working men in the…

Attempts have been recently made--more especially by the officers of the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows--to improve the financial condition of their…

We believe that time and experience will enable the leaders of Friendly Societies generally to improve them, and introduce new ameliorations. The…

Friendly Societies began their operations before there was any science of vital statistics to guide them; and if they have made mistakes in mutual…

In a country such as this, where business is often brought to a standstill by over-trading and over-speculation, many masters, clerks, and workpeople…

Even the Co-operative Cotton-mills, or Co-operative Banks, which are nothing more than Joint-stock Companies, Limited,[1] may become bankrupt. They…

Mr. Bright stated in the House of Commons, in 1860,[2] that the income of the working classes was "understated at three hundred and twelve millions a…

Surely, out of this large fund of earnings, the working classes might easily save from thirty to forty millions yearly. At all events, they might…

The instances which we have already cited of persons in the humbler ranks of life having by prudential forethought accumulated a considerable store…

It often happens that workmen lose their employment in "bad times." Mercantile concerns become bankrupt, clerks are paid off, and servants are…

With ten pounds a workman might remove from one district to another where employment is more abundant. With ten pounds, he might emigrate to Canada…

We do not value money for its own sake, and we should be the last to encourage a miserly desire to hoard amongst any class; but we cannot help…

The first savings bank was started by Miss Priscilla Wakefield, in the parish of Tottenham, Middlesex, towards the close of last century,--her object…

It was not until the Rev. Henry Duncan, the minister of Ruthwell, a poor parish in Dumfriesshire, took up the subject, that the savings-bank system…

Not many labouring men may apprehend the deep arguments of the religious teacher, but the least intelligent can appreciate a bit of practical…

Hence originated the parish savings bank of Ruthwell, the first self-supporting institution of the kind established in this country. That the…

The example set by Dr. Duncan was followed in many towns and districts in England and Scotland. In every instance the model of the Ruthwell parish…

The establishment of savings banks with these objects, at length began to be recognized as a matter of national concern; and in 1817 an Act was…

It is not the highly-paid class of working men and women who invest money in the savings banks; but those who earn comparatively moderate incomes.…

There is another fact that is remarkable. The habit of saving does not so much prevail in those counties where wages are the highest, as in those…

Private soldiers are paid much less wages per week than the lowest-paid workmen, and yet they put more money in the savings banks than workmen who…

Wonderful is the magic of Drill! Drill means discipline, training, education. The first drill of every people is military. It has been the first…

Nations, as they become civilized, adopt other methods of discipline. The drill becomes industrial. Conquest and destruction give place to production…

On efficient drilling and discipline, men's success as individuals, and as societies entirely depends. The most self-dependent man is under…

One dare scarcely hint, in these days, at the necessity for compulsory conscription; and yet, were the people at large compelled to pass through…

Military savings banks were first suggested by Paymaster Fairfowl in 1816; and about ten years later the question was again raised by Colonel…

The idea, however, seems to have occurred to the Duke, that the proposal to facilitate the saving of money by private soldiers might be turned to…

But this is not all. Private soldiers, out of their small earnings, are accustomed to remit considerable sums through the post office, to their…

Soldiers serving abroad during arduous campaigns have proved themselves to be equally thoughtful and provident. During the war in the Crimea, the…

And yet the private soldiers do not deposit all their savings in the military savings banks,--especially when they can obtain access to an ordinary…

The same feeling of suspicion frequently prevents workmen depositing money in the ordinary savings bank. They do not like it to be known to their…