“Well. But suppose I should want to leave the service of the Association after I had worked for it ten years or less. Could I withdraw my part of the accumulated wealth and take it away?”
“You could withdraw your wages and no more. You could go where you please with the wages.”
“But the accumulated capital. Would it not be unjust not to let me have my part of that?”
“Charlie! I forgive you, of course, but you are brilliantly stupid. How long have you been at work for the corporation which now employs you?”
“Three years.”
“If you should work for that corporation fifty years would you get any more than your wages if you should withdraw?”
“No.”
“Who would get the benefit of your work?”
“Why, the stockholders.”
“Yes, or perhaps the bondholders! You could invest your wages in stock in that corporation if you chose. You cannot invest them in the Association. But after investing in the cotton company you are liable to be frozen out by the big holders. Now, frankly, do you not see that you may work forty years for your company and then in old age have not enough to sustain life from day to day? This could not occur in our system. We exact now twenty-five years’ work of each member and then he is free. After he has given us twenty-five years’ work he becomes entitled to his dividend for the rest of his life just the same as if he worked.”