Chapter 3 - The Cigarette-Makers Strikes and the First Workers Co-operative Society in South Africa, Cape Town 1906 - 1907

From: Labour Struggles in South Africa The Forgotten Pages 1903 - 1921 by Evangelos A. Mantzaris

INTRODUCTION

In May 1906 smoking habits amongst the ladies in Cape Town were prevalent. Ladies used to smoke publicly, especially in the ever-popular trains used to the holiday resorts such as Wynberg. Female smokers outnumbered their male counterparts and even evicted them from the trains smoking compartments. ¹

The social scene in the city was as vibrant as ever. Herman and Canard (leading tobacconists) organised picnics in French Hoek for their employees, where sports programmes and musical items were provided, to celebrate the building of their new factory in Plein Street; ²the social evenings and the Cinderella Dances held by the police volunteers attracted large crowds, and the attention of the public. ³However, the prevailing social conditions in the Cape Colony during that period such as unemployment, starvation and inflation could not be hidden by these frequent happy occasions.

The working classes suffered the consequences of the Boer War, the inflationary circumstances, and the insidious tactics of employers in their continuous efforts to maximise their profits.

The establishment of local trade unions offered workers new ways to challenge the meagre wages, the appalling working conditions and overwork. The strikes that took place during this period were mainly the result of spontaneous, syndicalist action centred on economic demands and demands for the betterment of working conditions. Led by the General Workers' Union and the Social Democratic Federation (herein-after G.W.U and the S.D.F.) different sections of the Colony's working classes defended their rights with stoppages, demonstrations and strikes. The cigarette-makers, however, channelled their grievances in a unique way. Following two consecutive strikes against the most important and powerful cigarette manufacturers, they established the first workers' cooperative in the history of the South African Labour Movement.

This paper will examine the process of the strikes and the establishment, growth and death of this venture, and is divided into four parts:

• (a) An examination of the material conditions in the Cape during that period and the growth of the tobacco industry.
• (b) The strikes as such.
• (c) The development of the Co-operative.
• (d) The social character of the co-operative.

A. THE CONDITIONS IN THE CAPE AND THE COLONY'S TOBACCO INDUSTRY

Depression, unemployment and tightness of money supply were the main economic features at the Cape during the period under examination. Following the Anglo-Boer War, the unequal expansion of commercial activities, both in the wholesaling and distributive trade and in the import-export market ⁴as well as influx of soldiers at the end of the war ⁵created an economic climate unprecedented in the Colony's history. The agricultural drought during 1901 -1905, the viticulture depression and high inflation created by the supply of money spent by the imperial troops in the Colony, as well as the withdrawal of these troops at the end of the war, resulted in a commercial setback. ⁶The cost of living was tremendously high. ⁷Meat prices had increased because Australia's meat was subject to foot and mouth disease, ⁸and the price of commodities were kept high because of the monopolistic structure of the Colony's market. ⁹The unemployment issue was the major concern of the Colony's authorities and the various relief committees did their best to help the Cape Town population find jobs, but to no avail. ¹⁰In 1903, insolvencies doubled as compared to 1902, and in 1904 and 1905 increased between eight and ninefold. ¹¹It was noted that the cost of living in Cape Town was the highest in the Empire. ¹²

Although the working classes in Cape Town were faced with severe hardships the tobacco industry in the Colony went from strength to strength. Oudtshoorn alone produced in 1904 a gross output of 1 214 324, Ibs, while the return of leaf per morgan on well-worked land was 3 000 ibs. ¹³Cape Town's unique climate led many tobacco growers (the pioneer being A. Yaxoglou, a Greek from Asia Minor) ¹⁴to the cultivation of the Turkish tobacco which soon became the principal crop in the Colony. ¹⁵Turkish tobacco became so dominant and popular in the Cape market that large amounts of it were exported to the colonies of the Customs Union, while importation decreased dramatically. ¹⁶Several established Cape manufacturers monopolised the buying, manufacturing and distribution of tobacco, headed by the United Tobacco Company (SA) Ltd., which was the result of the incorporation of the Imperial Tobacco Companies of Britain and Ireland. Following the determined attack of the American Tobacco company on the British market, the U. T. C. created a subsidiary in Southern Africa, by establishing a buying, and manufacturing operation, which covered South Africa, Rhodesia and Nyasaland. ¹⁷Although Virginia tobacco was the main blend in South Africa for a number of years, experiments by pioneers such as the Yaxoglou brothers and L. Vassis (another Greek from Asia Minor) and Stella led to the dominance of Turkish tobacco. ¹⁸This tobacco was lighter and more enjoyable and its cultivation, although more difficult, could produce a larger crop than that of the Virginia-type tobacco. ¹⁹As the smoking habits of the Colony's populace changed (people preferred to smoke proper cigarettes and cigars rather than snuffing and chewing tobacco) ²⁰the need for new manufacturing techniques became inevitable. The years of primitive production and manufacturing of tobacco in Oudtshoorn, going back to 1882, ²¹became memories of the past as skilled tobacco cultivators and workers were brought over from the Netherlands, Asia Minor and Russia. ²²

In the meantime, however, several entrepreneurs established small factories in the Cape, and started cultivating tobacco, producing cigars and cigarettes and distributing them themselves or through wholesalers. Three of the most important of these were Herman, Canard and Policansky, all of them Russian Jews who had left the country of their birth because of the anti-semitic outbursts of the Tzarist regimes. Herman and Canard were cousins born in Kovno in 1855. They learned to roll cigarettes through their contact with the Turks against whom the Russian Empire waged several wars during the 19th Century. They emigrated to London from Russia where they joined English tobacco companies. They picked up masses of information on the cultivation and marketing to tobacco and on the financial and business aspects of the trade. Canard arrived in Table Bay in 1880 and in the next year he opened a business at 9 Stal Street. Then he moved to Long Street, where he was joined by Herman who had become acquainted with the Otto Landsberg recipe for the production of a particular type of a snuff. They started producing cigarettes in 1881, using tobacco from French Hoek. Their first venture, the French Hoek Cigarettes became an instant commercial success, especially on the goldfields. With financial assistance from John Merriman they established Tricolour (a blend of Turkish tobacco) and then Officers' Mess. Labour unrest in the late 1890s, concentrating on working conditions and exploitation, led to their purchasing new machinery and soon they were turning out millions of cigarettes. Both these pioneers, together with Policansky, were great advocates of publicity and their marketing strategies were unique for that period. Together with Policansky, who came from an identical background, Herman and Canard participatated in exhibitions, advertised in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and used street banners and displays in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban. ²³

The Policansky brothers were born in Russia, from where they emigrated to South Africa at a young age. They had also learned their trade through regular contacts with Turkish soldiers. When they arrived in Cape Town, they opened a cigarette factory in Plein Street, where they employed seasonal and permanent labour of between 80 and 160 workers. ²⁴Both factories employed the vast majority of cigarette-makers in Cape Town. These workers had formed one of the most militant and well-organized trade unions in the Colony. They also formed one of the most exploited sections of Cape Town's working class. It was reported that in the Policansky factory girls of nine, ten and eleven years of age were working for ten hours everyday for 5 shillings a week, in extremely unhygienic conditions. ²⁵These large factories operated under appalling sanitary conditions. ²⁶At Policansky's there were only two lavatories, both for males, although the majority of workers were females. ²⁷

The division of labour within the production process was simple, yet well organized. There were cigarette-makers, cigarette-packers, foremen and engineers, cigarette-cutters and two or three apprentices (boys). ²⁸Although year by year the net profits of the cigarette factories doubled or tripled, ²⁹their efforts to maximise both their potential output and annual turnover increased in 1906. As they spent large sums of their variable capital on new machines and equipment they had to spend less capital on wages. Accordingly, as the worker's labour in the cigarette-making factories produced the surplus over costs from which profits were derived, the declining proportion of total capital used to pay wages caused profit rates to decline. The employers had to stop this decline, and the only way was by reducing wages, speeding up the labour process, lengthening hours and hiring women and children in competition with men. All these tactics were used by the cigarette manufactures.

This time, however, these efforts struck a rock in the form of the Cigarette-makers' union and its umbrella body, the G.W.U.

B. STRIKES

The G.W.U. was re-established in 1906 by a number of militant workers of various nationalities (British, Greek, Italian, Jewish etc), under the leadership of Salter and B. Levinson. Its organisational structure was the most democratic in the S.A. Trade Union Movement, as its members elected their officers quarterly. The financial situation of the union was good, as every member had paid a levy of 1 pound to start a workers' fund. ³⁰Many members of the Union who worked at Policansky's factory downed tools in Mid-January 1906 because the management had six months previously, reduced the price per thousand for the making of cigarettes, without notice to the workers. The Union demanded the old price, that is, six pence per thousand.

The meetings of the Union took place every afternoon in the Socialist Hall. The representatives of the other affiliates of G.W.U., such as the tailors and the brickmakers, declared their moral and financial support. The leaders of the strike contacted the newly-formed Cigarette Makers' Union in London in an effort to ensure that no "black legs" would be transported to Cape Town. ³¹The Policansky brothers soon tried to divide the workers by playing off one nationality against another (most of the workers being Greeks and Jews), and the Union directed its efforts towards uniting the labourers across ethnic barriers. The regular speakers at the strikers meetings (where the speeches were delivered in English and Yiddish) tried to make the workers realize that this initial effort had to be defeated at all costs. ³²Oshman, a leading Yiddish-speaking trade unionist, and himself a striker, was the first to point out the possibility of the establishment of a Workers' Cooperative with its own distribution channel; John Christodoulou, the leader of the Greek cigarette-makers, supported the motion. ³³The Policanskys realized that their efforts to defeat the Union were fruitless and sent a letter to the secretary of G.W.U. offering to accede to the demands as regards prices, subject to certain conditions. The conditions were read at a mass meeting of the workers, which decided to return to work immediately. The Union was recognized and this was hailed as the "finest victory" in the history of Cape Town unionism. Cries of "Workers of the world unite against exploitation" saluted the speeches of the trade-unionists. ³⁴

The Policanskys, however, did not accept certain aspects of the agreement and the strike continued, while the financial support of the "International" (mainly Jewish) cabinet makers' and upholsterers' trade unions continued during the strike. The employers tried unsuccessfully to use Greek workers as scabs, as Christodoulou stood by the Union principles and convinced the Greek group of the Union to stand by the strikers. Finally, the Policanskys realized that the only alternative was to concede and accept the demands of the workers. The conditions of the settlement were the following:

• (a) An increased of 6d per 100 cigarettes produced.
• (b) An even price to be paid for the respective brands (i.e.. Sultan's Favourites, Braves and Small Sultans).
• (c) All disputes between the firm and the workers, individually or collectively, should be settled through the Union.
• (d) No non-unionists could be employed by the firm.
• (e) No employees taking part in the dispute could be victimised nor could any of them be dismissed under the plea of inconsistency.
• (f) Three months' notice of any alteration or variation desired might be given by either side, but before the expiration of the first six months. ³⁵

The commercial press both hailed the victory of the cigarette-makers in Cape Town and nationally. ³⁶

This strike was a serious eye-opener for employers and workers alike. The unity of workers across ethnic and gender barriers and the absence of scab labour was evident, and the words used by McKillop, who complimented both the "girls" and the "Greeks" for their dedication to the union principles, were a clear reminder to the employers that the unity of the workers was built on solid grounds. ³⁷The workers' solidarity was evident three months later when Herman and Canard decided to reduce the wages of "female" and "girls" labour, thus ignoring the already mentioned agreements signed also by them after the first strike. The Union took up the case and confronted management, whose attitude was clear: the Union had to be destroyed once for all. Every worker walked out and a mass meeting decided that a new strike was in the making. ³⁸The Greek contract workers were compelled by the employers to continue work or be expelled from Cape Town, ³⁹and Herman classified the demands of the Unions as ridiculous. Although he preferred to use apprentices (cheaper labour), the Union demanded only one apprentice in every ten workers. ⁴⁰

Christodoulou called on the Greek contract labourers to cease work as they were traitors to the cause. The Greek contract workers walked out in solidarity with their fellow labourers and their leader said that "their better nature had been aroused by the appeals of the girls and the women workers", who were paid 6 -6d and 8s respectively per week. ⁴¹The factory owners threatened the Greeks with court action and the latter were once again compelled to start work. The negotiations between the Union and the employers restarted with hope of a settlement that would be based mainly on a cancellation of the agreement made with the Greek contract labourers, who had been working in the factory since 1901. ⁴²Canard advertised for new staff in both Cape Town morning papers, ⁴³and the contract workers once again incurred the wrath of their colleagues who expressed their dissatisfaction with them by throwing stones at them on various occasions. No one was seriously injured in such instances. ⁴⁴

In the meantime the cigarette-makers' employers used the columns of the Labour journal. The S.A. Review to slander the struggle of the striking workers. The inaccuracies of the articles, however, strengthened the position of the strikers rather than weakening it. In order to write the article. Palmer, the editor of the journal, had the opportunity to check upon the cashbooks of the Herman and Canard factory, which were found to be in sound order. Through the analysis, however, it became clear that the children and all apprentices were highly exploited and that the preferential treatment of the cutters created divisions amongst the different sections of the workers' population. It was also evident that Canard tried to attract new low-wage recruits for his factory while undercutting the wages of his existing workers. ⁴⁵It later became known that the firm blackmailed the Greek contract labourers into signing, before an attorney, a letter of resignation from the trade-union. ⁴⁶The other manufacturers showed an increasing interest in the strike and made plain to their colleagues that they would not help them in their effort to destroy the union. During the final stages of the strikes the solidarity of the labouring classes of Cape Town towards the striking workers became phenomenal. Approximately 4 000 people participated in a mass demonstration in support of the tobacco strikers, where the main speakers pointed out that the workers "did not want charity from the capitalists" as they could defend their own interests with their strike action. Erasmus declared that the employers trembled as a result of the united non-racial solidarity of labour. Peregrine and Tobin, the A.P.O. leaders sent a letter to the Union congratulating it on its militancy and dedication to the struggle. ⁴⁷

The tramway workers in a mass-meeting decided to double their contribution of $75 to the striking workers. ⁴⁸ Herman and Canard did not accept any discussions with the Union on the cancellation of the contracts of the Greek workers and, while the interest of the workers and the public of Cape Town had been turned towards the establishment and growth of the "Locked-out-Cigarette", no one paid much attention to the complaints of the manufacturers regarding the increases in tariffs of raw materials. ⁴⁹

In a new development that took place at the Policansky factory approximately 50 workers were locked out. The employers imported three professional makers from Port Elizabeth, and also offered new conditions to the strikers, including payment of $3 per week from the time of the "lock-out", and a shilling per thousand more that the previous trade union rates. All workers approached rejected the offer. ⁵⁰This left the employers with the final alternative of converting their private house into a factory where a small number of cigarette-makers worked. ⁵¹This strike never ended. The establishment of the "Workers Cooperative" was an inevitable step that the workers had to take for two reasons directly related with the long and short-term strategies prospects of the strike. These were:

• (a) To challenge the dominance of the employers on the ideological level, that is, to defeat their efforts to destroy their unions, the only channel of united action left to them, and,
• (b) To channel their economic grievances to new forms of co-operation that could lead to alternative productive relationships on the shop floor or in the factory floor. Workers in other industries, factories and trades in their fight against exploitation, if successful, could use such an experiment.

These two features made this experiment unique in South African Labour History.

C. THE BIRTH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEATH OF THE WORKERS' COOPERATIVE

The number of workers involved in both these strikes in Cape Town was approximately 300. Although the financial position of the G.W.U was in a healthy state, it was impossible to support these workers on a daily basis. ⁵²The first seed of the idea to create a cooperative came from L. Oshman, a member of the "Strike Committee" and a supporter of the "Jewish Bund", ⁵³. According to Levinson a "one-armed friend of Erasmus interested in Economics, under the name of Chiappini" was the prime mover of the cooperative. ⁵⁴While enormous difficulties in starting the venture were envisaged, such as the lack of initial capital, problems in tobacco supply, etc., J. Fine and H. B. Gold, two socialistically-inclined Russian Jews, arrived in Cape Town with considerable amounts of tobacco, which was placed at the disposal of the cooperative. ⁵⁵The formal decision of the strikers to go ahead with the venture was taken on the 4th of May in a mass meeting of approximately 500 people who saluted the unity of the workers. All general dealers were asked to stock the "Locked-out" cigarette branch and all smoking workers to support it. ⁵⁶An "Arrangement Committee" was elected on the 7th of May to take the necessary preliminary steps towards employing the "best hands" until all striking workers could be employed there. The best qualified workers were thus the initial beneficiaries of the cooperative.

All trade unions and two benefit societies paid more than 25 pounds towards production of the cigarette. ⁵⁷As investment in materials and machinery was on a larger scale, it soon became vital for the Committee of the G.W.U to employ the firm of Attorneys, C. Friedlander, and Advocate Greer to contract all legal proceedings taken up by the union on behalf of any of its groups. ⁵⁸Before this process took place there was a move by Herman and Canard to "co-operate" with the strikers in terms of offering "technical" help. This "offer" was turned down by the workers, who Palmer accused of having been persuaded by "irresponsible agitators" who had nothing to do with the workers' struggles. ⁵⁹It became obvious that the workers were asserting themselves at all levels.

The distribution of the "Lock-out" cigarette started in a mass meeting, amidst wild enthusiasm from the workers of other trades, who voluntarily contributed labour, moral and financial support in order to cover the costs, production and distribution of the cigarettes. The Hebrew Dividend and Dividing Society passed a resolution supporting the co-operative effort, and established a "support committee" in order to help in the production and distribution of the cigarette. ⁶⁰The lock-out of workers sped up the production of the cigarette as more skilled workers joined the effort, but there were so many orders, especially from Johannesburg, that they could not be met. ⁶¹The South African News editorialised the effort of the workers and called upon the authorities to reconsider the existing legislation on "the right of combination", and to give concessions to workers. ⁶²The labourers in the co-operative earned 7s per 1 000 cigarettes produced and were working at the Trade Hall Club, which was used as a factory. The division of labour within the production process was not as rigid as in the commercial factories. Packers could lend a hand to cutters, and vice versa. The output was distributed by both workers and volunteer helpers (tram-workers, tailors, members of the Trade and Labour Council). ⁶³A Bundist-inclined organisation in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, "The Friends of Russian Freedom", organised demonstrations to explain the cause of the trouble and to enlist public sympathy and moral and financial support. The S.A. Amalgamated Society of Tailors doubled its previous financial contribution to the co- operative. ⁶⁴

The Johannesburg market and especially the workers' quarters received the "Lock-out" cigarette with unprecedented enthusiasm. Advertisements appeared in the newspapers, in the streets, in the work place. Erasmus and Chiappini travelled to Johannesburg and negotiated new deals with distributors and wholesalers. ⁶⁵

During the last days of May 1906, and while the number of the cooperative's workers had increased to 120, a large room at the basement of McPhersons' Building was acquired. The factory soon became one of the most visited places in town. A Management Board of the cooperative was established on the 29th May, and it held office for three months. ⁶⁶Soon the committee decided that the best available space to be purchased would be in the S.A. News building with its three large and airy rooms, and the union publicised the efforts of the workers, inviting visitors to inspect the cooperative. ⁶⁷Levinson, who had recently arrived from Johannesburg declared that the "Lock-out" cigarettes were selling like hot cakes, especially in the Jewish quarters: he pointed out that the employers had actually rendered a great service to workers by giving them the opportunity to base themselves on their own strength and labour. ⁶⁸

The initial difficulties facing the cooperative were not over, however. The raw material was still in the hands of a combine that had monopolistic interests, the capital requirements increased as time passed, and no private money-landers were prepared to give a lay-by credit. ⁶⁹In a powerful speech to the 130 workers of the cooperative, Chas Chiappini spelled out these difficulties and analyzed the benefits of the cooperative system in Europe, explaining that unity and sacrifice of workers were inseparable. The "South African General Workers' Union Locked-Out Cigarette Workers Cooperative Society Limited" (the full name of the venture) would start with a nominal capital of 20.000 pounds consisting of $1 shares, only 1 000 of which would be issued in 1906, and 5.000 of these would be issued to the cigarette-makers themselves. These shares would be non-transferable. Thus the trade union would be transformed into a properly organised cooperative society. The other 5 000 shares would be issued to South African trade unionists and would not be transferable to non-unionists or the general public. They could be paid for outright or at the rate of 2s on application. 2s on allotment and 2s per month thereafter. Cigarette-makers decided unanimously to adopt that principle and pledged themselves to take up shares in lots from 25 to 100 each, ⁷⁰Chiappini volunteered to act as secretary of the cooperative without fee, and the Board of Directors of the Company consisted exclusively of trade unionists.

In the meantime another forty unskilled "girls" joined the production unit of the cigarette, but soon the problems started: Levinson could not Sell or promote the cigarette on credit, based on instructions of the Committee. Although the support and solidarity of the trade union and workers' movement was evident, it was difficult to convince small retailers to give preference to the cooperative's cigarette instead of buying the other brands on credit. ⁷¹The movement took on a national character in early July 1906 when the Annual General Meeting of the Transvaal Independent Labour Party in Pretoria voted unanimously to sympathise with and support the efforts of the cooperative, and pledged itself to use every effort to extend the sales of the goods manufactured by the society, until such time as a factory could be established in the Transvaal. ⁷²Investment in Cape Town, however, was hard to get, as material conditions for most workers in the Colony deteriorated considerably. The "Labour-minded" parliamentarians sabotaged the venture and certain sections of the working class became disillusioned and disappointed by the ignorance and apathy of their fellow workers. ⁷³Sales dropped as the supply of raw material became scarce and there was no working capital.

By mid-August the workers and shareholders of the cooperative tried to revive their enthusiasm when certain negotiations with the "Oriental Cigarette Combine" were concluded. The tobacco blender and buyer for that company had placed his services and all the "Oriental" lines of cigarettes at the disposal of the locked-out workers. J. Fine, the man in question, had started the first strike at Policansky's after he had severed his connections with that factory. His reputation as a blender of Turkish tobacco brought considerable strength to the manufacturing of the "Locked-Out Cigarette" and his ability as a buyer should have placed the commercial side of the company on a solid foundation. ⁷⁴However, the shortage of supplies and the manipulation of the tobacco farmers by the large manufacturers brought this experiment to an end. No replenishment arrived and the financial position of the cooperative went from bad to worse as the committee decided to pay the 300 workers on a daily basis. Although once again the Cape Town trade unions came into the open with financial and moral support for the cooperative it was impossible to keep the machinery in working order, to pay the rent and maintain an every day payment to a large number of workers. ⁷⁵

On the 16th February 1907 the cooperative appeared in a Supreme Court liquidation case ⁷⁶and on 11th July 1907, approximately one year and two months after its birth, the first report of the liquidator appeared before the Supreme Court. ⁷⁷On the 9th September the court ordered the contributories to pay the amounts due by them before the 31st October. ⁷⁸The applicant was J. J. I Iverson, the secretary of the South African News Company Ltd., the "Workers' Newspaper". He claimed that a balance of 141.16.8 was owing to him by the cooperative, being as remuneration for professional services and rent. ⁷⁹It was pointed out that the workers of Cape Town, who represented the shareholders of the Company had at a mass meeting on the 24th January 1907, admitted their liability to the secretary of the newspaper and offered a compromise: to pay the amounts over a period of twelve, eighteen or twenty four months upon conditions that they be left in entire and working control of the concern. This had not been accepted by Iverson. ⁸⁰Issy Levy was provisionally appointed as liquidator. ⁸¹Chiappini objected strongly to certain points of the report of the liquidator by pointing out that there was a time that the S.A.N. Company owed the cooperative approximately $1 500, and that the amount quoted by Iverson as owing was grossly exaggerated. He called upon the liquidator to check the books and accounts of the cooperative. ⁸²The property of the cooperative consisted of a cigarette-machine, a motor for propelling, a quantity of cigarettes, tables and benches. These were only assets of the cooperative which could be auctioned. ⁸³

D. THE SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE COOPERATIVE

The workers' tobacco cooperative in Cape Town is a unique example in South African Labour History. The endless multiplicity of circumstances led the labouring classes in Cape Town to establish a company, based of the teaching of the Utopian Socialist Robbert Owen, "a man of almost sublimely child-like simplicity of character and at the same time a born leader of men". ⁸⁴Following historical examples, such as the journeymen Tobacco Pipe Manufacturers who after a strike in 1818 - 19 established a cooperative factory ⁸⁵and the American Labour Exchange and the Cooperative Brotherhood of England ⁸⁶they located their strikes with the overall struggles of the Cape Town workers at that time, but, due to the social circumstances surrounding their social existence and consciousness (absence of an industrial working class, and lack of industrialisation), did not see themselves as a vehicle for revolutionary change. Their rejection of straight political / revolutionary action, ⁸⁷was the result of their adherence to the fundamental principles of the various cooperative societies of Britain in the mid-19th century, such as the Ripponden Cooperative Society ⁸⁸Practical day-to-day economic problems facing the cooperative, in conjunction with the existing material conditions and pressures, led to the inevitable death of the experiment.

History, however, is not written only for the victors. After the demise of the society the tobacco manufacturers kept on maximising profits, the workers kept on struggling, and the strike leaders continued organising the labouring classes for the struggles ahead. No-one can capture the atmosphere of the period better than Levinson, one of the leaders of the cooperative, who wrote many years later:

The workers of Cape Town ably supported by their comrades up country had made a gallant effort; but in the end they were, through no fault of their own, beaten. But even in defeat the moral victory remained. They had shown what workers could really do when they really try ⁸⁹.