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countries of the world Oldham operatives, as managers and over-lookers, have formed spinning-mills and managed them, especiallyin India and Russia .
As a rule they return to their native town with their savings.They are people who, in general, are the cleverest in the cottonindustry, and who still retain a close feeling of kinship with theworking class from which they emanated. At political and socialmeetings the position of the cotton trade has for a long timeformed the most interesting theme. Thus a considerable degreeof commercial knowledge extended itself into the widest circles,helped forward by the reading-rooms, conversation-rooms, lectures,and educational evenings of the co-operative societies, technicaleducational institutions, etc. The highest-paid class of operativein Oldham , also, which is engaged in machine works, depends in asimilar manner on the condition of the cotton industry, and joinsin the interest for the position and technicalities of the trade.
Thus it happened that with the support of the co-operativestores, as early as 1860 a limited spinning-mill was established,which counted numerous operatives, and people who stood sociallylittle above the operatives, amongst its founders. Tin ’s spinning-mill, the Sun Mill, to-day one of the largest and best establish-ments in Oldham , has a brilliant record behind it. In the firstten years it was able already to declare dividends of from 10 to' 30per cent. Soon after it a great number of similar undertakingscame into life. All these formations emanated from people whocould make a claim to special knowledge, and were still by nomeans separated socially, as it were, from the operative by a gulf.Fitted throughout with the best machinery, these mills were mostkeenly supervised by their shareholder’s. Thus they have in theperiod of trade depression of the “seventies” held up their headsin an acknowledged better degree than numerous private firms(6). Not a single one of these “limiteds” came at that time togrief.
Of course there is also capital from larger capitalists invested inthese limited spinning-mills, in spite of which most of them havekept their character as undertakings of the working classes. Aninfallible proof of thiR is, that at the general meetings the votes arecounted, not according to the number of shares held, but according
0. Thomas Ellison: “ Cotton Trade,” p. 133.