5. An allusion to the attempts to establish international relations
between the Unions of English workmen and those of foreign countries is
important, more as indicating the probable line of future labour
movement, than as indicating the early probability of effective
international union of labour. Though slight spasmodic international co-
operation of workers may even now be possible, especially among members
of English-speaking races, the divergent immediate interests, the
different stages of industrial development reached in the various
industrial countries, seem likely for a long time at any rate to
preclude the possibility of close co-operation between the united
workers of different nations.
Sec. 6. Parallelism of the Movements in Capital and Labour.--Now this
movement in labour, irregular, partial, and incomplete as it is, is
strictly parallel with the movement of capital. In both, the smaller
units become merged and concentrated into larger units, driven by self-
interest to combine for more effective competition in larger masses. The
fact that in the case of capital the concentration is more complete,
does not really impair the accuracy of the analogy. Small capitals, when
they have co-operated or formed a union, are absolutely merged, and
cease to exist or act as individual units at all. A "share" in a
business has no separate existence so long as it is kept in that
business. But the small units of labour cannot so absolutely merge their
individuality.
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