in the south, the executive was, as in Italy, in the hands of a body of
_consules_, whose number in most cases rose to twelve. They were elected
for the term of one year and re-eligible only after an interval, and
they were supported by a municipal council (_commune consilium,
consilium magnum_ or _secretum_ or _generale_, or _colloquium_) and a
general assembly (_parlamentum, concio, commune consilium, commune,
universitas civium_), which, however, as a rule was far from comprising
the whole body of citizens. Another feature which these southern towns
had in common with their Italian neighbours was the prominent part
played by the native nobility. The relations with the clergy were
generally of a more friendly character than in the north, and in some
cases the bishop or archbishop even retained a considerable influence in
the management of the town's affairs. Dissensions among the citizens, or
between the nobles and the bourgeois, frequently ended in the adoption
of a _podestat_. And in several cities of the Languedoc, each of the two
classes composing the population retained its separate laws and customs.
It is matter of dispute whether vestiges of Roman institutions had
survived in these parts down to the time when the new constitutions
sprang into being; but all investigators are pretty well agreed that in
no case did such remnants prove of any practical importance. Roman law,
however, was never quite superseded by Germanic law, as appears from the
_statuts municipaux_. In the improvement and expansion of these statutes
a remarkable activity was displayed by means of an annual _correctio
statutorum_ carried out by specially appointed _statutores_. In the
north, on the other hand, the _carta communiae_, forming as it were the
basis of the commune's existence, seems to have been considered almost
as something sacred and unchangeable.
The constitutional history of the communes in northern France in a
number of points widely differed from that of these _villes
consulaires_. First of all the movement for their establishment in most
cases was to a far greater degree of a revolutionary character. These
revolutions were in the first place directed against the bishops; but
the position both of the higher clergy and of the nobility was here of a
nature distinctly more hostile to the aspirations of the citizens than
it was in the south. As a result the clergy and the nobles were excluded
from all membership of the commune, except inasmuch as that those
residing in the town might be required to swear not to conspire against
it. The commune (_communia, communa, communio, communitas, conjuratio,
confoederatio_) was formed by an oath of mutual help (_sacramentum,
juramentum communiae_). The members were described as _jurati_ (also
_burgenses, vicini, amici_), although in some communes that term was
reserved for the members of the governing body. None but men of free and
legitimate birth, and free from debt and contagious or incurable disease
were received. The members of the governing body were styled _jures_
(_jurati_), _pairs_ (_pares_) or _echevins_ (_scabini_). The last was,
however, as in Germany, more properly the title of the jurors in the
court of justice, which in many cases remained in the hands of the lord.
In some cases the town council developed out of this body; but in the
larger cities, like Rouen, several councils worked and all these names
were employed side by side. The number of the members of the governing
body proper varies from twelve to a hundred, and its functions were both
judicial and administrative. There was also known an arrangement
corresponding to the German _alte und sitzende Rat_, viz. of retired
members who could be called in to lend assistance on important
occasions. The most striking distinction, however, as against the
_villes consulaires_ was the elevation of the president of the body to
the position of _maire_ or _mayeur_ (sometimes also called _prevot_,
_praepositus_). As elsewhere, at first none but the civic aristocracy
were admitted to take part in the management of the town's affairs; but
from the end of the 13th century a share had to be conceded to
representatives of the crafts. Dissatisfaction, however, was not easily
allayed; the lower orders applied for the intervention of the king; and
that effectively put an end to political freedom. This tendency of
calling in state help marks a most striking difference as against the
policy followed by the German towns, where all classes appear to have
been always far too jealous of local independence. The result for the
nation was in the one case despotism, equality and order, in the other
individual liberty and an inability to move as a whole. At an earlier
stage the king had frequently come to the assistance of the communes in
their struggle with their lords. By-and-by the king's confirmation came
to be considered necessary for their lawful existence. This proved a
powerful lever for the extension of the king's authority. It may seem
strange that in France the towns never had recourse to those interurban
leagues which played so important a part in Italian and in German
history.
These two varieties, the _communes_ and the _villes consulaires_
together form the group of _villes libres_. As opposed to these stand
the _villes franches_, also called _villes prevotales_ after the chief
officer, _villes de bourgeoisie_ or _villes soumises_. They make up by
far the majority of French towns, comprising all those situated in the
centre of the kingdom, and also a large number in the north and the
south. They are called _villes franches_ on account of their possessing
a franchise, a charter limiting the services due by the citizens to
their lord, but political status they had little or none. According to
the varying extent of the liberties conceded them, there may be
distinguished towns governed by an elective body and more or less fully
authorized to exercise jurisdiction; towns possessing some sort of
municipal organization, but no rights of jurisdiction, except that of
simple police; and, thirdly, those governed entirely by seignorial
officers. To this last class belong some of the most important cities in
France, wherever the king had power enough to withhold liberties deemed
dangerous and unnecessary. On the other hand, towns of the first
category often come close to the _villes libres_. A strict line of
demarcation, however, remains in the mutual oath which forms the basis
of the civic community in both varieties of the latter, and in the fact
that the _ville libre_ stands to its lord in the relation of vassal and
not in that of an immediate possession. But however _completement
assujettie_ Paris might be, its organization, naturally, was immensely
more complex than that of hundreds of smaller places which, formally,
might stand in an identical relationship to their lords. Like other
_villes franches_ under the king, Paris was governed by a _prevot_
(provost), but certain functions of self-government for the city were
delegated to the company of the _marchands de l'eau, mercatores aquae_,
also called _mercatores ansati_, that is, the gild of merchants whose
business lay down the river Seine, in other words, a body naturally
exclusive, not, however, to the citizens as such. At their head stood a
_prevot des marchands_ and four _eschevins de la marchandise_. Other
_prud'hommes_ were occasionally called in, and from 1296 _prevot_ and
_echevins_, appointed twenty-four councillors to form with themselves a
_parloir aux bourgeois_. The crafts of Paris were organized in
_metiers_, whose masters were appointed, some by the _prevot de Paris_,
and some by certain great officers of the court. In the tax rolls of
A.D. 1292 to 1300 no fewer than 448 names of crafts occur, while the
_Livre des metiers_ written in 1268 by Etienne de Boileau, then _prevot
de Paris_, enumerates 101 organized bodies of tradesmen or women and
artisans. Among the duties of these bodies, as elsewhere, was the _guet_
or night-watch, which necessitated a military organization under
_quartiniers, cinquantainiers_ and _dixainiers_. This gave them a
certain power. But both their revolutions, under the _prevot des
marchands_, Etienne Marcel, after the battle of Maupertuis, and again in
1382, were extremely short-lived, and the only tangible result was a
stricter subjection to the king and his officers.
An exceptional position among the cities of France is taken up by those
of _Flanders_, more particularly the three "Great Towns," Bruges, Ghent
and Ypres, whose population was Flemish, i.e. German. They sprang up at
the foot of the count's castles and rose in close conjunction with his
power. On the accession of a new house they made their power felt as
early as 1128. Afterwards the counts of the house of Dampierre fell into
financial dependence on the burghers, and therefore allied themselves
with the rising artisans, led by the weavers. These, however, proved far
more unruly, bloody conflicts ensued, and for a considerable period the
three great cities ruled the whole of Flanders with a high hand. Their
influence in the foreign relations of the country was likewise great, it
being in their interest to keep up friendly relations with England, on
whose wool the flourishing state of the staple industry of Flanders
depended. It is a remarkable fact that the historical position taken up
by these cities, which politically belonged to France, is much more akin
to the part played by the German towns, whereas Cambrai, whose
population was French, is the only city politically situated in Germany,
where a commune came to be established.
In the _Spanish peninsula_, the chief importance of the numerous small
towns lay in the part they played as fortresses during the unceasing
wars with the Moors. The kings therefore extended special privileges
(_fueros_) to the inhabitants, and they were even at an early date
admitted to representation in the Cortes (parliament). Of greater
individual importance than all the rest was Barcelona. Already in 1068
Count Berengarius gave the city a special law (_usatici_) based on its
ancient usages, and from the 14th century its commercial code (_libro
del consolat del mar_) became influential all over southern Europe.
The constitutions of the _Scandinavian_ towns were largely modelled on
those of Germany, but the towns never attained anything like the same
independence. Their dependence on the royal government most strongly
comes out in the fact of their being uniformly regulated by royal law in
each of the three kingdoms. In Sweden particularly, German merchants by
law took an equal share in the government of the towns. In Denmark their
influence was also great, and only in Norway did they remain in the
position of foreigners in spite of their famous settlement at Bergen.
The details, as well as those of the German settlement at Wisby and on
the east coast of the Baltic, belong rather to the history of the
Hanseatic League (q.v.). Denmark appears to be the only one of the three
kingdoms where gilds at an early date played a part of importance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The only book dealing with the subject in general, viz.
K. D. Hullmann, _Stadtewesen des Mittelalters_ (4 vols., Bonn,
1826-1828), is quite antiquated. For Germany it is best to consult
Richard Schroder, _Lehrbruch der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (5th ed.,
Leipzig, 1907), SS 51 and 56, where a bibliography as complete as need
be is given, both of monographs dealing with various aspects of the
question, and of works on the history of individual towns. The latter
alone covers two large octavo pages of small print. As a sort of
complement to Schroder's chapters may be considered, F. Keutgen,
_Urkunden zur stadtischen Verfassungsgeschichte_ (Berlin, 1901 =
_Ausgewahlte Urkunden zur deutschen Verfassungsgeschichte_, by G. von
Below and F. Keutgen, vol. i.), a collection of 437 select charters
and other documents, with a very full index. The great work of G. L.
von Maurer, _Geschichte der Stadteverfassung von Deutschland_ (4 thick
vols., Erlangen, 1869-1871), contains an enormous mass of information
not always treated quite so critically as the present age requires.
There is an excellent succinct account for general readers by Georg
von Below, "Das altere deutsche Stadtewesen und Burgertum,"
_Monographien zur Weltgeschichte_, vol. vi. (Bielefeld and Leipzig,
1898, illustrated). A number of the most important recent monographs
have been mentioned above. As fpr Italy, the most valuable general
work for the early times is still Carl Hegel, _Geschichte der
Stadteverfassung von Italien seit der Zeit der romischen Herrschaft
bis zum Ausgang des zwolften Jahrhunderts_ (2 small vols., Leipzig,
1847, price second-hand, M. 40), in which it was for the first time
fully proved that there is no connexion between Roman and modern
municipal constitutions. For the period from the 13th century it will
perhaps be best to consult W. Assmann, _Geschichte des Mittelalters_,
3rd ed., by L. Viereck, dritte Abteilung, _Die letzten beiden
Jahrhunderts des Mittelalters: Deutschland, die Schweiz, und Italien_,
by R. Fischer, R. Scheppig and L. Viereck (Brunswick, 1906). In this
volume, pp. 679-943 contain an excellent account of the various
Italian states and cities during that period, with a full bibliography
for each. Among recent critical contributions to the history of
individual towns, the following works deserve to be specially
mentioned: Robert Davidsohn, _Geschichte von Florenz_ (Berlin,
1896-1908); down to the beginning of the 14th century; the same,
_Forschungen zur Geschichte von Florenz_ (vols. i.-iv., Berlin,
1896-1908); Heinrich Kretschmayr, _Geschichte von Venedig_ (vol. i.,
Gotha, 1905, to 1205). For France, there are the works by Achille
Luchaire, _Les Communes francaises a l'epoque des Capetiens directs_
(Paris, 1890), and Paul Viollet, "Les Communes francaises au moyen
age," _Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres_,
tome xxxvi. (Paris, 1900). There are, of course, also accounts in the
great works on French institutions by Flach, Glasson, Viollet,
Luchaire, but perhaps the one in Luchaire's _Manuel des institutions
francaises, periode des Capetiens directs_ (Paris, 1892) deserves
special recommendation. Another valuable account for France north of
the Loire is that contained in the great work by Karl Hegel, _Stadte
und Gilden der germanischen Volker im Mittelaller_ (2 vols., Leipzig,
1891; see _English Historical Review_, viii. 120-127). Of course,
there are also numerous monographs, among which the following may be
mentioned: Edouard Bonvalot, _Le Tiers Etat d'apres la charte de
Beaumont et ses filiales_ (Paris, 1884); and A. Giry, _Les
Etablissements de Rouen_ (2 vols., Paris, 1883-1885); also a
collection of documents by Gustave Fagniez, _Documents relatifs a
l'histoire de l'industrie et du commerce en France_ (2 vols., Paris,
1898, 1900). Some valuable works on the commercial history of southern
Europe should still be mentioned, such as W. Heyd, _Geschichte des
Levantehandels im Mittelalter_ (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1879; French
edition by Furcy Raynaud, 2 vols., Paris, 1885 seq., improved by the
author), recognized as a standard work; Adolf Schaube,
_Handelsgeschichte der romanischen Volker des Mittelmeergebietes bis
zum Ende der Kreuzzuge_ (Munich and Berlin, 1906); Aloys Schulte,
_Geschichte des mittelalterlichen Handels und Verkehrs zwischen
Westdeutschland und Italien mit Ausschluss Venedigs_ (2 vols.,
Leipzig, 1900); L. Goldschmidt, _Universalgesdiichte des
Handelsrechts_ (vol. i., Stuttgart, 1891). As for the Scandinavian
towns, the best guide is perhaps the book by K. Hegel, _Stadte und
Gilden der germanischen Volker_, already mentioned; but see also
Dietrich Schafer, "Der Stand der Geschichtswissenschaft im
skandinavischen Norden," _Internationale Wochenschrift_, November 16,
1907. (F. K.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As to the former, see S. Rietschel, _Die Civitas auf deutschem
Boden bis zum Ausgange der Karolingerzeit_ (Leipzig, 1894); and, for
the newly founded towns, the same author, _Markt und Stadt in ihrem
rechtlichen Verhaltnis_ (Leipzig, 1897).
[2] About the _Burggraf_, see S. Rietschel, _Das Burggrafenamt und die
hohe Gerichtsbarkeit in den deutschen Bischofsstadten wahrend des
fruheren Mittelalters_ (Leipzig, 1905).
[3] As to the towns as fortresses, see also F. Keutgen,
_Untersuchungen uber den Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung_
(Leipzig, 1895); and "Der Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung"
(_Neue Jahrbucher fur das klassische Altertum_, &c, N.F. vol. v.).
[4] See S. Rietschel, _Markt und Stadt_, and J. Fritz, _Deutsche
Stadtanlagen_ (Strassburg, 1894).
[5] G. von Below, _Die Entstehung der deutschen Stadtgemeinde_
(Dusseldorf, 1889); and _Der Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung_
(Dusseldorf, 1892).
[6] F. Keutgen, _Urkunden zur stadtischen Verfassungsgeschichte_, No.
74 and No. 75 (Berlin, 1901).
[7] F. Keutgen, _Amter und Zunfte_ (Jena, 1903).
[8] J. Weizsacker, _Der rheinische Bund_ (Tubingen, 1879).
[9] G. v. Below, _Der Untergang der mittelalterlichen Stadtwirtschaft;
Uber Theorien der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Volker_; F.
Keutgen, "Hansische Handelsgesellschaften, vornehmlich des 14ten
Jahrhunderts," in _Vierteljahrsschrift fur Sozial- und
Wirtschaftsgeschichte_, vol. iv. (1906).
[10] On this whole subject see Richard Schroder, _Lehrbuch der
deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (5th ed., Leipzig, 1907), S 56, "Die
Stadtrechte." Also Charles Gross, _The Gild Merchant_ (Oxford, 1890),
vol. i. Appendix E, "Affiliation of Medieval Boroughs."
[11] H. Kretschmayr, _Geschichte von Venedig_, vol. i. (Gotha, 1905).
COMMUNISM, the name loosely given to schemes of social organizations
depending on the abolition of private property and its absorption into
the property of a community as such. It is a form of what is now
generally called socialism (q.v.), the terminology of which has varied a
good deal according to time and place; but the expression "communism"
may be conveniently used, as opposed to "socialism" in its wider
political sense, or to the political and municipal varieties known as
"collectivism," "state socialism," &c., in order to indicate more
particularly the historical schemes propounded or put into practice for
establishing certain ideally arranged communities composed of
individuals living and working on the basis of holding their property in
common. It has nothing, of course, to do with the Paris Commune,
overthrown in May 1871, which was a political and not an economic
movement. Communistic schemes have been advocated in almost every age
and country, and have to be distinguished from mere anarchism or from
the selfish desire to transfer other people's property into one's own
pockets. The opinion that a communist is merely a man who has no
property to lose, and therefore advocates a redistribution of wealth, is
contrary to the established facts as to those who have historically
supported the theory of communism. The Corn-law Rhymer's lines on this
subject are amusing, but only apply to the baser sort:--
"What is a Communist! One that hath yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings.
Idler or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork out his penny and pocket your shilling."
This is the communist of hostile criticism--a criticism, no doubt,
ultimately based on certain fundamental facts in human nature, which
have usually wrecked communistic schemes of a purely altruistic type in
conception. But the great communists, like Plato, More, Saint-Simon,
Robert Owen, were the very reverse of selfish or idle in their aims; and
communism as a force in the historical evolution of economic and social
opinion must be regarded on its ideal side, and not merely in its
lapses, however natural the latter may be in operation, owing to the
defects of human character. As a theory it has inspired not only some of
the finest characters in history, but also much of the gradual evolution
of economic organization--especially in the case of co-operation (q.v.);
and its opportunities have naturally varied according to the state of
social organization in particular countries. The communism of the early
Christians, for instance, was rather a voluntary sharing of private
property than any abnegation of property as such. The Essenes and the
Therapeutae, however, in Palestine, had a stricter form of communism,
and the former required the surrender of individual property; and in the
middle ages various religious sects, followed by the monastic orders,
were based on the communistic principle.
Communistic schemes have found advocates in almost every age and in many
different countries. The one thing that is shared by all communists,
whether speculative or practical, is deep dissatisfaction with the
economic conditions by which they are surrounded. In Plato's _Republic_
the dissatisfaction is not limited to merely economic conditions. In his
examination of the body politic there is hardly any part which he can
pronounce to be healthy. He would alter the life of the citizens of his
state from the very moment of birth. Children are to be taken away from
their parents and nurtured under the supervision of the state. The old
nursery tales, "the blasphemous nonsense with which mothers fool the
manhood out of their children," are to be suppressed. Dramatic and
imitative poetry are not to be allowed. Education, marriage, the number
of births, the occupations of the citizens are to be controlled by the
guardians or heads of the state. The most perfect equality of conditions
and careers is to be preserved; the women are to have similar training
with the men, no careers and no ambition are to be forbidden to them;
the inequalities and rivalries between rich and poor are to cease,
because all will be provided for by the state. Other cities are divided
against themselves. "Any ordinary city, however small, is in fact two
cities, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich, at war with one
another" (_Republic_, bk. iv. p. 249, Jowett's translation). But this
ideal state is to be a perfect unit; although the citizens are divided
into classes according to their capacity and ability, there is none of
the exclusiveness of birth, and no inequality is to break the accord
which binds all the citizens, both male and female, together into one
harmonious whole. The marvellous comprehensiveness of the scheme for the
government of this ideal state makes it belong as much to the modern as
to the ancient world. Many of the social problems to which Plato draws
attention are yet unsolved, and some are in process of solution in the
direction indicated by him. He is not appalled by the immensity of the
task which he has sketched out for himself and his followers. He admits
that there are difficulties to be overcome, but he says in a sort of
parenthesis, "Nothing great is easy." He refuses to be satisfied with
half measures and patchwork reforms. "Enough, my friend! but what is
enough while anything remains wanting?" These sentences indicate the
spirit in which philosophical as distinguished from practical communists
from the time of Plato till to-day have undertaken to reconstruct human
society.
Sir Thomas More's _Utopia_ has very many of the characteristics of _The
Republic_. There is in it the same wonderful power of shaking off the
prejudices of the place and time in which it was written. The government
of Utopia is described as founded on popular election; community of
goods prevailed, the magistrates distributed the instruments of
production among the inhabitants, and the wealth resulting from their
industry was shared by all. The use of money and all outward ostentation
of wealth were forbidden. All meals were taken in common, and they were
rendered attractive by the accompaniment of sweet strains of music,
while the air was filled by the scent of the most delicate perfumes.
More's ideal state differs in one important respect from Plato's. There
was no community of wives in Utopia. The sacredness of the family
relation and fidelity to the marriage contract were recognized by More
as indispensable to the well-being of modern society. Plato,
notwithstanding all the extraordinary originality with which he
advocated the emancipation of women, was not able to free himself from
the theory and practice of regarding the wife as part and parcel of the
property of her husband. The fact, therefore, that he advocated
community of property led him also to advocate community of wives. He
speaks of "the _possession and use_ of women and children," and proceeds
to show how this possession and use must be regulated in his ideal
state. Monogamy was to him mere exclusive possession on the part of one
man of a piece of property which ought to be for the benefit of the
public. The circumstance that he could not think of wives otherwise than
as the property of their husbands only makes it the more remarkable that
he claimed for women absolute equality of training and careers. The
circumstance that communists have so frequently wrecked their projects
by attacking marriage and advocating promiscuous intercourse between the
sexes may probably be traced to the notion which regards a wife as being
a mere item among the goods and chattels of her husband. It is not
difficult to find evidence of the survival of this ancient habit of
mind. "I will be master of what is mine own," says Petruchio. "She is my
goods, my chattels."
The Perfectionists of Oneida, on the other hand, held that there was "no
intrinsic difference between property in persons and property in things;
and that the same spirit which abolished exclusiveness in regard to
money would abolish, if circumstances allowed full scope to it,
exclusiveness in regard to women and children" (Nordhoff's _Communistic
Societies of the United States_). It is this notion of a wife as
property that is responsible for the wild opinions communists have often
held in favour of a community of wives and the break-up of family
relations. If they could shake off this notion and take hold of the
conception of marriage as a contract, there is no reason why their views
on the community of property should lead them to think that this
contract should not include mutual fidelity and remain in force during
the life of the contracting parties. It was probably not this conception
of the marriage relation so much as the influence of Christianity which
led More to discountenance community of wives in Utopia. It is strange
that the same influence did not make him include the absence of slavery
as one of the characteristics of his ideal state. On the contrary,
however, we find in Utopia the anomaly of slavery existing side by side
with institutions which otherwise embody the most absolute personal,
political and religious freedom. The presence of slaves in Utopia is
made use of to get rid of one of the practical difficulties of
communism, viz. the performance of disagreeable work. In a society where
one man is as good as another, and the means of subsistence are
guaranteed to all alike, it is easy to imagine that it would be
difficult to ensure the performance of the more laborious, dangerous and
offensive kinds of labour. In Utopia, therefore, we are expressly told
that "all the uneasy and sordid services" are performed by slaves. The
institution of slavery was also made supplementary to the criminal
system of Utopia, as the slaves were for the most part men who had been
convicted of crime; slavery for life was made a substitute for capital
punishment.
In many respects, however, More's views on the labour question were
vastly in advance of his own time. He repeats the indignant protest of
the _Republic_ that existing society is a warfare between rich and poor.
"The rich," he says, "desire every means by which they may in the first
place secure to themselves what they have amassed by wrong, and then
take to their own use and profit, at the lowest possible price, the work
and labour of the poor. And so soon as the rich decide on adopting these
devices in the name of the public, then they become law." One might
imagine these words had been quoted from the programme of The
International (q.v.), so completely is their tone in sympathy with the
hardships of the poor in all ages. More shared to the full the keen
sympathy with the hopeless misery of the poor which has been the strong
motive power of nearly all speculative communism. The life of the poor
as he saw it was so wretched that he said, "Even a beast's life seems
enviable!" Besides community of goods and equality of conditions, More
advocated other means of ameliorating the condition of the people.
Although the hours of labour were limited to six a day there was no
scarcity, for in Utopia every one worked; there was no idle class, no
idle individual even. The importance of this from an economic point of
view is insisted on by More in a passage remarkable for the importance
which he attaches to the industrial condition of women. "And this you
will easily apprehend," he says, "if you consider how great a part of
all other nations is quite idle. First, women generally do little, who
are the half of mankind." Translated into modern language his proposals
comprise universal compulsory education, a reduction of the hours of
labour to six a day, the most modern principles of sanitary reform, a
complete revision of criminal legislation, and the most absolute
religious toleration. The romantic form which Sir Thomas More gave to
his dream of a new social order found many imitators. The _Utopia_ may
be regarded as the prototype of Campanella's _City of the Sun_,
Harrington's _Oceana_, Bacon's _Nova Atlantis_, Defoe's _Essay on
Projects_, Fenelon's _Voyage dans l'Ile des Plaisirs_, and other works
of minor importance.
All communists have made a great point of the importance of universal
education. All ideal communes have been provided by their authors with a
perfect machinery for securing the education of every child. One of the
first things done in every attempt to carry communistic theories into
practice has been to establish a good school and guarantee education to
every child. The first impulse to national education in the 19th century
probably sprang from the very marked success of Robert Owen's schools in
connexion with the cotton mills at New Lanark. Compulsory education,
free trade, and law reform, the various movements connected with the
improvement of the condition of women, have found their earliest
advocates among theoretical and practical communists. The communists
denounce the evils of the present state of society; the hopeless poverty
of the poor, side by side with the self-regarding luxury of the rich,
seems to them to cry aloud to Heaven for the creation of a new social
organization. They proclaim the necessity of sweeping away the
institution of private property, and insist that this great revolution,
accompanied by universal education, free trade, a perfect administration
of justice, and a due limitation of the numbers of the community, would
put an end to half the self-made distress of humanity.
The various communistic experiments in America are the most interesting
in modern times, opportunities being naturally greater there for such
deviations from the normal forms of regulations as compared with the
closely organized states of Europe, and particularly in the means of
obtaining land cheaply for social settlements with peculiar views. They
have been classified by Morris Hillquit (_History of Socialism in the
United States_, 1903) as (1) sectarian, (2) Owenite, (3) Fourieristic,
(4) Icarian.
1. The oldest of the sectarian group was the society of the Shakers
(q.v.), whose first settlement at Watervliet was founded in 1776. The
Harmony Society or Rappist Community was introduced into Pennsylvania by
George Rapp (1770-1847) from Wurttemberg in 1804, and in 1815 they moved
to a settlement (New Harmony) in Indiana, returning to Pennsylvania
again in 1824, and founding the village of Economy, from which they were
also known as Economites. Emigrants from Wurttemberg also founded the
community of Zoar in Ohio in 1817, being incorporated in 1832 as the
Society of Separatists of Zoar; it was dissolved in 1898. The Amana
(q.v.) community, the strongest of all American communistic societies,
originated in Germany in the early part of the 18th century as "the True
Inspiration Society," and some 600 members removed to America in
1842-1844. The Bethel (Missouri) and Aurora (Oregon) sister communities
were founded by Dr Keil (1812-1877) in 1844 and 1856 respectively, and
were dissolved in 1880 and 1881. The Oneida Community (q.v.), created by
John Humphrey Noyes (1811-1886), the author of a famous _History of
American Socialisms_ (1870), was established in 1848 as a settlement for
the Society of Perfectionists. All these bodies had a religious basis,
and were formed with the object of enjoying the free exercise of their
beliefs, and though communistic in character they had no political or
strictly economic doctrine to propagate.
2. The Owenite communities rose under the influence of Robert Owen's
work at New Lanark, and his propaganda in America from 1824 onwards, the
principal being New Harmony (acquired from the Rappists in 1825); Yellow
Springs, near Cincinnati, 1824; Nashoba, Tennessee, 1825; Haverstraw,
New York, 1826; its short-lived successors, Coxsackie, New York, and the
Kendal Community, Canton, Ohio, 1826. All these had more or less short
existences, and were founded on Owen's theories of labour and economics.
3. The Fourierist communities similarly were due to the Utopian
teachings of the Frenchman Charles Fourier (q.v.), introduced into
America by his disciple Albert Brisbane (1809-1890), author of _The
Social Destiny of Man_ (1840), who was efficiently helped by Horace
Greeley, George Ripley and others. The North American Phalanx, in New
Jersey, was started in 1843 and lasted till 1855. Brook Farm (q.v.) was
started as a Fourierist Phalanx in 1844, after three years' independent
career, and became the centre of Fourierist propaganda, lasting till
1847. The Wisconsin Phalanx, or Ceresco, was organized in 1844, and
lasted till 1850. In Pennsylvania seven communities were established
between 1843 and 1845, the chief of which were the Sylvania Association,
the Peace Union Settlement, the Social Reform Unity, and the Leraysville
Phalanx. In New York state the chief were the Clarkson Phalanx, the
Sodus Bay Phalanx, the Bloomfield Association, and the Ontario Union. In
Ohio the principal were the Trumbull Phalanx, the Ohio Phalanx, the
Clermont Phalanx, the Integral Phalanx, and the Columbian Phalanx; and
of the remainder the Alphadelphia Phalanx, in Michigan, was the
best-known. It is pointed out by Morris Hillquit that while only two
Fourierist Phalanxes were established in France, over forty were started
in the United States.
4. The Icarian communities were due to the communistic teachings of
another Frenchman, Etienne Cabet (q.v.) (1788-1856), the name being
derived from his social romance, _Voyage en Icarie_ (1840), sketching
the advantages of an imaginary country called Icaria, with a
co-operative system, and criticizing the existing social organization.
It was his idea, in fact, of a Utopia. Robert Owen advised him to
establish his followers, already numerous, in Texas, and thither about
1500 went in 1848. But disappointment resulted, and their numbers
dwindled to less than 500 in 1849; some 280 went to Nauvoo, Illinois;
after a schism in 1856 some formed a new colony (1858) at Cheltenham,
near St Louis; others went to Iowa, others to California. The last
branch was dissolved in 1895.
See also the articles SOCIALISM; OWEN; SAINT-SIMON; FOURIER, &c.; and
the bibliography to SOCIALISM. The whole subject is admirably covered
in Morris Hillquit's work, referred to above; and see also Noyes's
_History of American Socialisms_ (1870); Charles Nordhoff's
_Communistic Societies of the United States_ (1875); and W. A. Hinds's
_American Communities_ (1878; 2nd edition, 1902), a very complete
account.
COMMUTATION (from Lat. _commutare_, to change), a process of exchanging
one thing for another, particularly of one method of payment for
another, such as payment in money for payment in kind or by service, or
of payment of a lump sum for periodical payments; for various kinds of
such substitution see ANNUITY; COPYHOLD and TITHES. The word is also
used similarly of the substitution of a lesser sentence on a criminal
for a greater. In electrical engineering, the word is applied to the
reversal of the course of an electric current, the contrivance for so
doing being known as a "commutator" (see DYNAMO). In America, a
"commutation ticket" on a railway is one which allows a person to travel
at a lower rate over a particular route for a certain time or for a
certain number of times; the person holding such a ticket is known as a
"commuter."
COMNENUS, the name of a Byzantine family which from 1081 to 1185
occupied the throne of Constantinople. It claimed a Roman origin, but
its earliest representatives appear as landed proprietors in the
district of Castamon (mod. _Kastamuni_) in Paphlagonia. Its first member
known in Byzantine history is Manuel Eroticus Comnenus, an able general
who rendered great services to Basil II. (976-1025) in the East. At his
death he left his two sons Isaac and John in the care of Basil, who gave
them a careful education and advanced them to high official positions.
The increasing unpopularity of the Macedonian dynasty culminated in a
revolt of the nobles and the soldiery of Asia against its feeble
representative Michael VI. Stratioticus, who abdicated after a brief
resistance. Isaac was declared emperor, and crowned in St Sophia on the
2nd of September 1057. For the rulers of this dynasty see ROMAN EMPIRE,
LATER, and separate articles.
With Andronicus I. (1183-1185) the rule of the Comneni proper at
Constantinople came to an end. A younger line of the original house,
after the establishment of the Latins at Constantinople in 1204, secured
possession of a fragment of the empire in Asia Minor, and founded the
empire of Trebizond (q.v.), which lasted till 1461, when David Comnenus,
the last emperor, was deposed by Mahommed II.
For a general account of the family and its alleged survivors see
article "Komnenen," by G. F. Hertzberg, in Ersch and Gruber's
_Allgemeine Encyklopadie_, and an anonymous monograph, _Precis
historique de la maison imperiale des Comnenes_ (Amsterdam, 1784);
and, for the history of the period, the works referred to under ROMAN
EMPIRE, LATER.
COMO (anc. _Comum_), a city and episcopal see of Lombardy, Italy, the
capital of the province of Como, situated at the S. end of the W. branch
of the Lake of Como, 30 m. by rail N. by W. of Milan. Pop. (1881)
25,560; (1905) 34,272 (town), 41,124 (commune). The city lies in a
valley enclosed by mountains, the slopes of which command fine views of
the lake. The old town, which preserves its rectangular plan from Roman
times, is enclosed by walls, with towers constructed in the 12th
century. The cathedral, built entirely of marble, occupies the site of
an earlier church, and was begun in 1396, from which period the nave
dates: the facade belongs to 1457-1486, while the east of the exterior
was altered into the Renaissance style, and richly decorated with
sculptures by Tommaso Rodari in 1487-1526. The dome is an unsuitable
addition of 1731 by the Sicilian architect Filippo Juvara (1685-1735),
and its baroque decorations spoil the effect of the fine Gothic
interior. It contains some good pictures and fine tapestries. In the
same line as the facade of the cathedral are the Broletto (in black and
white marble), dating from 1215, the seat of the original rulers of the
commune, and the massive clock-tower. The Romanesque church of S.
Abondio outside the town was founded in 1013 and consecrated in 1095; it
has two fine campanili, placed at the ends of the aisles close to the
apse. It occupies the site of the 5th-century church of SS. Peter and
Paul. Near it is the Romanesque church of S. Carpoforo. Above it is the
ruined castle of Baradello. The churches of S. Giacomo (1095-1117) and
S. Fedele (12th century), both in the town, are also Romanesque, and the
apses have external galleries. The Palazzo Giovio contains the Museo
Civico. Como is a considerable tourist resort, and the steamboat traffic
on the lake is largely for travellers. A climate station is established
on the hill of Brunate (2350 ft.) above the town to the E., reached by a
funicular railway. The Milanese possess many villas here. Como is an
industrial town, having large silk factories and other industries (see
LOMBARDY). It is connected with Milan by two lines of railway, one via
Monza (the main line, which goes on to Chiasso--Swiss frontier--and the
St Gotthard), the other via Saronno and also with Lecco and Varese.
Of the Roman Comum little remains above ground; a portion of its S.E.
wall was discovered and may be seen in the garden of the Liceo Volta, 88
ft. within the later walls: later fortifications (but previous to 1127),
largely constructed with Roman inscribed sepulchral urns and other
fragments, had been superimposed on it. Thermae have also been
discovered (see V. Barelli in _Notizie degli scavi_, 1880, 333; 1881,
333; 1882, 285). The inscriptions, on the other hand, are numerous, and
give an idea of its importance. The statements as to the tribe which
originally possessed it are various. It belonged to Gallia Cisalpina,
and first came into contact with Rome in 196 B.C., when M. Claudius
Marcellus conquered the Insubres and the Comenses. In 89 B.C., having
suffered damage from the Raetians, it was restored by Cn. Pompeius
Strabo, and given Latin rights with the rest of Gallia Transpadana.
Shortly after this 3000 colonists seem to have been sent there; 5000
were certainly sent by Caesar in 59 B.C., and the place received the
name Novum Comum. It appears in the imperial period as a _municipium_,
and is generally spoken of as Comum simply. The place was prosperous; it
had an important iron industry; and the banks of the lake were, as now,
dotted with villas. It was also important as the starting-point for the
journey across the lake in connexion with the Splugen and Septimer
passes (see CHIAVENNA). It was the birthplace of both the elder and the
younger Pliny, the latter of whom founded baths and a library here and
gave money for the support of orphan children. There was a _praefectus
classis Comensis_ under the late empire, and it was regarded as a strong
fortress. See Ch. Hulsen in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie_, Suppl.
Heft i. (Stuttgart, 1903), 326.
Como suffered considerably from the early barbarian invasions, many of
the inhabitants taking refuge on the Isola Comacina off Sala, but
recovered in Lombard times. It was from that period that the _magistri
Comacini_ formed a privileged corporation of architects and sculptors,
who were employed in other parts of Italy also, until, at the end of the
11th century, individuals began to come more to the front (G. T.
Rivoira, _Origini del l'architettura Lombarda_, Rome, 1901, i. 127 f.).
Como then became subject to the archbishops of Milan, but gained its
freedom towards the end of the 11th century. At the beginning of the
12th century war broke out between Como and Milan, and after a ten
years' war Como was taken and its fortifications dismantled in 1127. In
1154, however, it took advantage of the arrival of Barbarossa, and
remained faithful to him throughout the whole war of the Lombard League.
After frequent struggles with Milan, it fell under the power of the
Visconti in 1335. In 1535, like the rest of Lombardy, it fell under
Spanish dominion, and in 1714 under Austrian. Thenceforth it shared the
fortunes of Milan, becoming in the Napoleonic period the chief town of
the department of the Lario. Its silk industry and its position at the
entrance to the Alpine passes gave it some importance even then. It bore
a considerable part in the national risings of 1848-1859 against
Austrian rule. (T. As.)
COMO, Lake of (the _Lacus Larius_ of the Romans, and so sometimes called
Lario to the present day, though in the 4th century it is already termed
_Lacus Comacinus_), one of the most celebrated lakes in Lombardy,
Northern Italy. It lies due N. of Milan and is formed by the Adda that
flows through the Valtelline to the north end of the lake (here falls in
the Maira or Mera, coming from the Val Bregaglia) and flows out of it at
its south-eastern extremity, on the way to join the Po. Its area is 55-1/2
sq. m., it is about 43 m. from end to end (about 30-1/2 m. from the north
end of Bellagio), it is from 1 to 2-1/2 m. in breadth, its surface is 653
ft. above the sea, and its greatest depth is 1365 ft. A railway line now
runs along its eastern shore from Colico to Lecco (24-1/2 m.), while on its
western shore Menaggio is reached by a steam tramway from Porlezza on
the Lake of Lugano (8 m.). Colico, at the northern extremity, is by rail
17 m. from Chiavenna and 42 m. from Tirano, while at its southern end
Como (on the St Gotthard line) is 32 m. from Milan, and Lecco about the
same distance. The lake fills a remarkable depression which has been
cut through the limestone ranges that enclose it, and once doubtless
extended as far as Chiavenna, the Lake of Mezzola being a surviving
witness of its ancient bed. Towards the south the promontory of Bellagio
divides the lake into two arms. That to the south-east ends at Lecco and
is the true outlet, for the south-western arm, ending at Como, is an
enclosed bay. During the morning the _Tivano_ wind blows from the north,
while in the afternoon the _Breva_ wind blows from the south. But, like
other Alpine lakes, the Lake of Como is exposed to sudden violent
storms. Its beauties have been sung by Virgil and Claudian, while the
two Plinys are among the celebrities associated with the lake. The
shores are bordered by splendid villas, while perhaps the most lovely
spot on it is Bellagio, built in an unrivalled position. Among the other
villages that line the lake, the best-known are Varenna (E.) and
Menaggio (W.), nearly opposite one another, while Cadenabbia (W.) faces
Bellagio. (W. A. B. C.)
COMONFORT, IGNACIO (1812-1863), a Mexican soldier and politician, who,
after occupying a variety of civil and military posts, was in December
1855 made provisional president by Alvarez, and from December 1857 was
for a few weeks constitutional president. (See MEXICO.)
COMORIN, CAPE, a headland in the state of Travancore, forming the
extreme southern point of the peninsula of India. It is situated in 8
deg. 4' 20" N., 77 deg. 35' 35" E., and is the terminating point of the
western Ghats. The village of Comorin, with the temple of Kanniyambal,
the "virgin goddess," on the coast at the apex of the headland, is a
frequented place of pilgrimage.
COMORO ISLANDS, a group of volcanic islands belonging to France, in the
Indian Ocean, at the northern entrance of the Mozambique Channel midway
between Madagascar and the African continent. The following table of the
area and population of the four largest islands gives one of the sets of
figures offered by various authorities:--
+-------------------+-------------+--------------+
| | Area sq. m. | Population. |
+-------------------+-------------+--------------+
| Great Comor | 385 | 50,000 |
| Anjuan or Johanna | 145 | 12,000 |
| Mayotte | 140 | 11,000 |
| Moheli | 90 | 9,000 |
| +-------------+--------------+
| Total | 760 | 82,000 |
+-------------------+-------------+--------------+
There are besides a large number of islets of coral formation.
Particulars of the four islands named follow.
1. Great Comoro, or Angazia, the largest and most westerly, has a length
of about 38 m., with a width of about 12 m. Near its southern extremity
it rises into a fine dome-shaped volcanic mountain, Kartola (Karthala),
which is over 8500 ft. high, and is visible for more than 100 m. Up to
about 6000 ft. it is clothed with dense vegetation. Eruptions are
recorded for the years 1830, 1855 and 1858; and another eruption
occurred in 1904. In the north the ground rises gradually to a plateau
some 2000 ft. above the sea; from this plateau many regularly shaped
truncated cones rise another 2000 ft. The centre of the island consists
of a desert field of lava streams, about 1600 ft. high. The chief towns
are Maroni (pop. about 2000), Itzanda and Mitsamuli; the first, situated
at the head of a bay in 11 deg. 40' S., being the seat of the French
administrator.
2. Anjuan, or Johanna, next in size, lies E. by S. of Comoro. It is some
30 m. long by 20 at its greatest breadth. The land rises in a succession
of richly wooded heights till it culminates in a central peak, upwards
of 5000 ft. above the sea, in 12 deg. 14' S., 44 deg. 27' E. The former
capital, Mossamondu, on the N.W. coast, is substantially built of stone,
surrounded by a wall, and commanded by a dilapidated citadel; it is the
residence of the sultan and of the French administrator. There is a
small but safe anchorage at Pomony, on the S. side, formerly used as a
coal depot by ships of the British navy.
3. Mayotte, about 21 m. long by 6 or 7 m. broad, is surrounded by an
extensive and dangerous coral reef. The principal heights on its
extremely irregular surface are: Mavegani Mountain, which rises in two
peaks to a maximum of 2164 ft., and Uchongin, 2100 ft. The French
headquarters are on the islet of Zaudzi, which lies within the reef in
12 deg. 46' S., 45 deg. 20' E. There are substantial government
buildings and store-houses. On the mainland opposite Zaudzi is Msapere,
the chief centre of trade. Mayotte was devastated in 1898 by a cyclone
of great severity.
4. Moheli or Mohilla lies S. of and between Anjuan and Grand Comoro. It
is 15 m. long and 7 or 8 m. at its maximum breadth. Unlike the other
three it has no peaks, but rises gradually to a central ridge about 1900
ft. in height. Fomboni (pop. about 2000) in the N.W. and Numa Choa in
the S.W. are the chief towns.
All the islands possess a very fertile soil; there are forests of
coco-nut palms, and among the products are rice, maize, sweet-potatoes,
yams, coffee, cotton, vanilla and various tropical fruits, the papaw
tree being abundant. The fauna is allied to that of Madagascar rather
than to the mainland of Africa; it includes some land birds and a
species of lemur peculiar to the islands. Large numbers of cattle and
sheep, the former similar to the small species at Aden, are reared as
well as, in Great Comoro, the zebra. Turtles are caught in abundance
along the coasts, and form an article of export. The climate is in
general warm, but not torrid nor unsuitable for Europeans. The dry
season lasts from May to the end of October, the rest of the year being
rainy. The natives are of mixed Malagasy, Negro and Arab blood. The
majority are Mahommedans. The European inhabitants, mostly French,
number about 600. There are some 200 British Indians, traders, in the
islands. The external trade of the islands has developed since the
annexation of Madagascar to France, and is of the value of about
L100,000 a year. Sugar refineries, distilleries of rum, and sawmills are
worked in Mayotte by French settlers. Cane sugar and vanilla are the
chief exports. The islands are regularly visited by vessels of the
Messageries Maritimes fleet, and a coaling station for the French navy
has been established.
The islands were first visited by Europeans in the 16th century; they
are marked on the map of Diego Ribero made in 1527. At that time, and
for long afterwards, the dominant influence in, and the civilization of,
the islands was Arab. According to tradition the islands were first
peopled by Arab voyagers driven thither by tempests. The petty sultans
who exercised authority were notorious slave traders. A Sakalava chief
who had been driven from Madagascar by the Hovas took refuge in Mayotte
_c._ 1830, and, with the aid of the sultan of Johanna, conquered the
island, which for a century had been given over to civil war. French
naval officers having reported on the strategic value of Mayotte,
Admiral de Hell, governor of Reunion, sent an officer there in 1841, and
a treaty was negotiated ceding the island to France. Possession was
taken in 1843, the sultan of Johanna renouncing his claims in the same
year. In 1886 the sultans of the other three islands were placed under
French protection, France fearing that otherwise the islands would be
taken by Germany. The French experienced some difficulty with the
natives, but by 1892 had established their position. The islands, as
regulated by the decree of the 9th of April 1908, are under the supreme
authority of the governor-general of Madagascar. The local
administration is in the hands of an official who himself governs
Mayotte but is represented in the other islands by administrators. On
the council which assists the governor are two nominated native
notables. In 1910 the sultan of Great Comoro ceded his sovereign rights
to France. In Anjuan the native government is continued under French
supervision. The budgets of the four islands in 1904 came to some
L30,000, that of Mayotte being about half the total. The chief sources
of revenue are poll and house taxes, and, in Mayotte, a land tax.
The _Iles Glorieuses_, three islets 160 m. N.E. of Mayotte, with a
population of some 20 souls engaged in the collection of guano and the
capture of turtles, were in 1892 annexed to France and placed under the
control of the administrator of Mayotte.
See _Notice sur Mayotte et les Comores_, by Emile Vienne, one of the
memoirs on the French colonies prepared for the Paris Exhibition of
1900; _Le Sultanat d'Anjouan_, by Jules Repiquet (Paris, 1901), a
systematic account of the geography, ethnology and history of Johanna;
_Les colonies francaises_ (Paris, 1900), vol. ii. pp. 179-197, in
which the story of the archipelago is set forth by various writers; an
account of the islands by A. Voeltzkow in the _Zeitschrift_ of the
Berlin Geog. Soc. (No. 9, 1906), and _Carte des Iles Comores_, by A.
Meunier (Paris, 1904).
COMPANION (through the O. Fr. _compaignon_ or _compagnon_, from the Late
Lat. _companio_,--_cum_, with, and _panis_, bread,--one who shares meals
with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat.
_compagnus_, one of the same _pagus_ or district), a mess-mate or
"comrade" (a term which itself has a similar origin, meaning one who
shares the same _camera_ or room). "Companion" is particularly used of
soldiers, as in the expression "companion in arms," and so is the title
of the lowest rank in a military or other order of knighthood; the word
is also used of a person who lives with another in a paid position for
the sake of company, and is looked on rather as a friend than a servant;
and of a pair or match, as of pictures and the like. Similar in ultimate
origin but directly adapted from the Fr. _chambre de la compagne_, and
Ital. _camera della compagna_, the storeroom for provisions on board
ship, is the use of "companion" for the framed windows over a hatchway
on the deck of a ship, and also for the hooded entrance-stairs to the
captain's cabin.
COMPANY, one of a number of words like "partnership," "union," "gild,"
"society," "corporation," denoting--each with its special shade of
meaning--the association of individuals in pursuit of some common
object. The taking of meals together was, as the word signifies (_cum_,
with, _panis_, bread,) a characteristic of the early company. Gild had a
similar meaning: but this characteristic, though it survives in the
Livery company (see LIVERY COMPANIES), has in modern times disappeared.
The word "company" is now monopolized--in British usage--by two great
classes of companies--(1) the joint stock company, constituted under the
Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, which consolidated the various acts
from 1862 to 1907, and (2) the "public company," constituted under a
special act to carry on some work of public utility, such as a railway,
docks, gasworks or waterworks, and regulated by the Companies Clauses
Acts 1845 and 1863.
1. _Joint Stock Companies._
The joint stock company may be defined as an association of persons
incorporated to promote by joint contributions to a common stock the
carrying on of some commercial enterprise. Associations formed not for
"the acquisition of gain" but to promote art, science, religion, charity
or some other useful or philanthropic object, though they may be
constituted under the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, seldom call
themselves companies, but adopt some name more appropriate to express
their objects, such as society, club, institute, college or chamber. The
joint stock company has had a long history which can only be briefly
sketched here. The name of "joint stock company" is--or was--used to
distinguish such a company from the "regulated company," which did not
trade on a joint stock but was in the nature of a trade gild, the
members of which had a monopoly of foreign trade with particular
countries or places (see Adam Smith, _Wealth of Nations_, bk. v. ch. i.
pt. iii.).
The earliest kind of joint stock company is the chartered (see CHARTERED
COMPANIES). The grant of a charter is one of the exclusive privileges of
the crown, and the crown has from time to time exercised it in
furtherance of trading enterprise. Examples of such grants are the
Merchant Adventurers of England, chartered by Richard II. (1390); the
East India Co., chartered by Queen Elizabeth (1600); the Bank of
England, chartered by William and Mary (1694); the Hudson's Bay Co.; the
Royal African Co.; the notorious South Sea Co.; and in later times the
New Zealand Co., the North Borneo Co., and the Royal Niger Co. Chartered
companies had, however, several disadvantages. A charter was not easily
obtainable. It was costly. The members could not be made personally
liable for the debts of the company: and once created--though only for
defined objects--such a company was invested with entire independence
and could not be kept to the conditions imposed by the grant, which was
against public policy. A new form of commercial association was wanted,
free from these defects, and it was found in the common law
company--the lineal ancestor of the modern trading company. The common
law company was not an incorporated association: it was simply a great
partnership with transferable shares. Companies of this kind multiplied
rapidly towards the close of the 17th century and the beginning of the
18th century, but they were regarded with strong disfavour by the law,
for reasons not very intelligible to modern notions; the chief of these
reasons being that such companies purported to act as corporate bodies,
raised transferable stock, used charters for purposes not warranted by
the grant, and were--or were supposed to be--dangerous and mischievous,
tending (in the words of the preamble of the Bubble Act) to "the common
grievance, prejudice and inconvenience of His Majesty's subjects or
great numbers of them in trade, commerce or other lawful affairs." They
were too often--and this no doubt was the real ground of the prejudice
against them--utilized by unprincipled persons to promote fantastic and
often fraudulent schemes. Matthew Green, in his poem "The Spleen," notes
how
"Wrecks appear each day,
And yet fresh fools are cast away."
The result was that by the act (6 Geo. I. c. 18) commonly known as the
Bubble Act (1719) such companies were declared to be common nuisances
and indictable as such. But the act, though it remained on the statute
book for more than one hundred years and was not formally repealed till
1825, proved quite ineffectual to check the growth of joint stock
enterprise, and the legislature, finding that such companies had to be
tolerated, adopted the wiser course of regulating what it could not
repress. One great inconvenience of these common law trading companies
arose from their being unincorporated. They were formed of large
fluctuating bodies of individuals, and a person dealing with them did
not know with whom he was contracting or whom he was to sue. This evil
the legislature sought to rectify by empowering the crown to grant to
companies by letters patent without incorporation the privilege of suing
and being sued by a public officer. Ten years afterwards--in 1844--a
more important line of policy was adopted, and all companies with some
exceptions were enabled to obtain a certificate of incorporation without
applying for a charter or special act. The act of 1862 carried this
policy one step farther by prohibiting all associations of more than
twenty persons from carrying on business without registering under the
act. These were all useful amendments, but they were amendments of form
rather than substance. The real vitality of joint stock enterprise lies
in the co-operative principle, and the natural growth and expansion of
this fruitful principle was checked until the middle of the 19th century
by the notorious risks attaching to unlimited liability. In the case of
an ordinary partnership, though their liability is unlimited (or was
until the Limited Partnerships Act 1907), the partners can generally
tell what risks they are incurring. Not so the shareholders of a
company. They delegate the management of their business to a board of
directors, and they may easily find themselves committed by the fraud or
folly of its members to engagements which in the days of unlimited
liability meant ruin. Failures like those of Overend and Gurney, and of
the Glasgow Bank, caused widespread misery and alarm. It was not until
limited liability had been grafted on the stock of the co-operative
system that the real potency of the principle of industrial co-operation
became apparent. We owe the adoption of the limited liability principle
to the clear-sightedness of Lord Sherbrooke--then Mr Robert Lowe--and to
the vigorous advocacy of Lord Bramwell. We owe it to Lord Bramwell also
that the principle was made a feasible one. The practical difficulty was
how to bring home to persons dealing with the company notice that the
liability of the shareholders was limited. Lord Bramwell solved the
problem by a happy suggestion--"write it on my tombstone," he said
humorously to a friend. This was that the company should add to its name
the word "Limited "--paint it up on its premises, and use it on all
invoices, bills, promissory notes and other documents. The proposal was
adopted by the Legislature and has worked successfully. While limited
companies have been multiplying at the rate of over 4000 a year, the
unlimited company has become practically an extinct species. The growth
of limited companies is, indeed, one of the most striking phenomena of
our day. Their number may be estimated at quite 40,000. Their paid-up
capital amounts to the stupendous sum of L1,850,000,000 and, what is
even more significant, as the 1st Viscount Goschen remarks in his
_Essays and Addresses_, is that "the number of shareholders has grown in
a much greater ratio than the colossal growth of the aggregate capital.
The profits and risks of nearly every kind of business have been spread
from year to year over fresh thousands of individuals, and the middle
class with moderate incomes are more and more participating in that
accumulation of wealth from business of every description which formerly
built up the fortunes of individual traders or of bankers or of single
families."
It is with the limited company then--the company limited by shares--as
the normal type and incomparably the most important, that this article
mainly deals.
_Companies Limited by Shares._--The Companies Act 1862, was intended to
constitute a comprehensive code of law applicable to joint stock trading
companies for the whole of the United Kingdom. Recognizing the mischief
above alluded to--of trading concerns being carried on by large and
fluctuating bodies, the act begins by declaring that no company,
association or partnership, consisting of more than twenty persons, or
ten in the case of banking, shall be formed after the commencement of
the act for the purpose of carrying on any business which has for its
object the acquisition of gain by the company, association or
partnership, or by the individual members thereof, unless it is
registered as a company under the act, or is formed in pursuance of some
other act of parliament or of letters patent, or is a company engaged in
working mines within and subject to the jurisdiction of the Stannaries.
Broadly speaking, the meaning of the act is that all commercial
undertakings, as distinguished from literary or charitable associations,
shall be registered. "Business" has a more extensive signification than
"trade." Having thus cleared the ground the act goes on to provide in
what manner a company may be formed under the act. The machinery is
simple, and is described as follows:--
"Any seven or more persons associated for any lawful purpose may, by
subscribing their names to a memorandum of association and otherwise
complying with the requisitions of this act in respect of registration,
form an incorporated company with or without limited liability" (S 6).
It is not necessary that the subscribers should be traders nor will the
fact that six of the subscribers are mere dummies, clerks or nominees of
the seventh affect the validity of the company; so the House of Lords
decided in _Salomon_ v. _Salomon & Co._, 1897, A. C. 22.
Memorandum of Association.
The document to be subscribed--the Memorandum of
Association--corresponds, in the case of companies formed under the
Companies Act 1862, to the charter or deed of settlement in the case of
other companies. The form of it is given in the schedule to the act, and
varies slightly according as the company is limited by shares or
guarantee, or is unlimited. (See the 3rd schedule to the Consolidation