eight hour strike. Another more successful trial of the system was begun in 1869, by the A. S. Cameron Company of Jersey City, and lasted until Mr. Cameron's death in 1877. Other isolated experiments followed, and in 1892 the Association for the Promotion of Profit Sharing was formed, but recently the enthusiasm seems to have waned.

No complete list of past and present cases of profit sharing in the United States has yet been made, though Mr. Paul Monroe counted in 1896 fifty such experiments, thirty-three of which had been permanently and five indefinitely abandoned, leaving only twelve profit sharing plans in operation at that date.1 The large number of failures, however, seems to be due to the brevity of the trials as compared with European experiments, the majority of firms reporting the abandonment of the system having tried it for only two or three years.2

At the present time, profit sharing schemes of one form or another are known to be in force in fourteen establishments, some of which have practiced it for a considerable number of years. These are the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, the Columbus Railway and Light Company, the Roycroft Press, the Solvay Process Company, the Acme Sucker Rod Company, the Proctor and Gamble Company, the Bourne Mills, the Ballard and Ballard Company, the Cabot Manufacturing Company, the Baker Manufacturing Company, the N. O. Nelson Company, the

1 American Journal of Sociology, Vol. I, p. 709.

2 For recent cases of the abandonment of the system, reported by Mr. Monroe or Mr. Gilman as practicing it in 1896 or 1899, see Appendix B.

American Smelting and Refining Company, the Filene Department Store, and the Carolina Savings Bank. In the last two of these cases, however, the Filene Department Store of Boston and the Carolina Savings Bank of Charleston, South Carolina, profits are shared with salaried employees and not with wage earners, while the American Smelting and Refining Company of New York City, Denver and Pueblo, Colorado, includes no employees below the grade of foremen.1 There are thus only eleven cases of true workingmen's profit sharing known to be in existence, in 1904, in the United States.

(1). The Peace Dale Manufacturing Company: The only early experiment which has survived is that of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, which began a system of profit sharing in 1878 at Peace Dale, Rhode Island. The dividend paid is not, however, a definite proportion of the profits, but is determined solely by the judgment of the directors of the company and is paid only when the profits seem to warrant. Though no dividend was declared the first year, 5 per cent. on wages was paid for two years and 3 per cent. for another two years. Then the decline of the business, due in large measure to general industrial conditions, caused the suspension of the bonus. A dividend of 2 per cent., however, was paid in 1900 and one of 3 per cent. in 1902. There are, in 1904, about 700 employees. The company states: "We can not say that the scheme has had any noticeable effect

1 For descriptions of the plans followed by these three companies see Appendix B.

as yet upon the help, their efficiency or interest. The woolen business has been so uncertain that it has not enabled us to make the steady payment to the help that would alone give them a real interest in the work."

(2). The Columbus Railway and Light Company: The Columbus Railway and Light Company distributes an employee's dividend, which is paid quarterly at the same time dividends are paid to stockholders, and in the same ratio. That is, if an employee earns $150 during the quarter, he receives 5 per cent. of that amount, or $7.50, which is the rate the company is paying on both stock and wages at the present time.

(3). The Roycroft Press: The Roycroft Press, incorporated in 1902, sells stock only to its employees, superintendents and officers, in shares of $25 each, and guarantees a dividend of 12 per cent. annually. "Sometimes during good years, funds have been distributed to employees whether they have anything invested or not." In 1903 about one-half of the stock of the company was held by employees, the other half being held by superintendents and officers. An employee may subscribe for as many shares as he desires, but if he leaves the service of the company he must sell his stock to Mr. Hubbard at the price paid. This is a somewhat indirect method of profit sharing, and the experiment might be more accurately defined as a case of producers' coöperation, of the jointstock variety.

(4). The Solvay Process Company: The Solvay Process Company, near Syracuse, New York, has a successful

plan of profit sharing which has been in operation since 1887. Though "at first only the chief employees and general officers of the company were admitted to participation," foremen and assistant foremen have been allowed, since 1890, to share in a smaller proportion of the profits. Moreover, "since the latter year the plan has been somewhat extended annually among older employees of the classes named." The share of each participant depends upon the amount of salary he receives and the rate of dividends to stockholders. "The company reports that it has reason to believe the system is an excellent one and attains the desired end, for it has incited greater interest in the affairs of the establishment, including suggestions for improvements, little economies, and the exercise of more care in consuming supplies and materials."

(5). The Acme Sucker Rod Company: The Acme Sucker Rod Company of Toledo, Ohio, for five or six years previous to 1901, distributed annually a cash dividend equal to 5 per cent. of the year's wages of each workman. In 1901, however, a new plan was adopted, under which 5 per cent. of the total sum of wages paid is divided by the number of employees, and each man is given a certifi cate of credit for the amount, as a partial payment on a $100 share of stock in the company. It is provided, however, that if an employee does not desire the stock, he may "exchange the certificate for cash on application at the office." Those who retain the certificates of credit "will have the earnings of the stock placed to their credit,

as well as any other payments that they desire to make upon the stock." These certificates are not negotiable, but when the share is fully paid for at its par value it "becomes the property of the person to whom it is issued, to do with as he likes." The Acme Sucker Rod Company and the Solvay Process Company both contribute to the support of insurance funds for the benefit of their employees, but such contribution is in proportion to the amount contributed by the employees themselves and bears no relation to the volume of profits. It should be remarked, also, that the dividend paid by the Acme Sucker Rod Company is itself not directly based upon profits. Such payments, however, constituting a definite fraction of the annual wages paid, are frequently, if not usually, classed as profit sharing.

(6). The Proctor and Gamble Company: The Proctor and Gamble Company, soap and candle makers of Ivorydale, Ohio, introduced profit sharing in 1887 as a direct attempt to secure greater permanence in the working force and to avoid labor difficulties. The original plan provided that a reasonable salary should be allowed to each active member of the firm, as a portion of the expense of manufacturing, and that the remainder of the net profits should be divided "between the firm and the employees in the proportion that the labor cost of production bore to the total cost of production." This plan remained practically unchanged until July 1, 1903, when the previously mentioned modification requiring stock ownership for participation was introduced. The ma