e of the
State that surely did not fail to interfere with it. Let us not forget
either, that these syndicates represent associations whose members have
only private interests at stake, and that if at the same time each
shipowner were compelled--by the socializing of production, consumption,
and exchange--to belong to federated Communes, or to a hundred other
associations for the satisfying of his needs, things would have a
different aspect. A group of shipowners, powerful on sea, would feel
weak on land, and they would be obliged to lessen their claims in order
to come to terms with railways, factories, and other groups.

At any rate, without discussing the future, here is another spontaneous
association that has dispensed with Government. Let us quote more
examples.

As we are talking of ships and boats, let us mention one of the most
splendid organizations that the nineteenth century has brought forth,
one of those we may with right be proud of--the English Lifeboat
Association.

It is known that every year more than a thousand ships are wrecked on
the shores of England. At sea a good ship seldom fears a storm. It is
near the coasts that danger threatens--rough seas that shatter her
stern-post, squalls that carry off her masts and sails, currents that
render her unmanageable, reefs and sand banks on which she runs aground.

Even in olden times, when it was a custom among inhabitants of the
coasts to light fires in order to attract vessels on to reefs, in order
to plunder their cargoes, they always strove to save the crew. Seeing a
ship in distress, they launched their boats and went to the rescue of
shipwrecked sailors, only too often finding a watery grave themselves.
Every hamlet along the sea shore has its legends of heroism, displayed
by woman as well as by man, to save crews in distress.

No doubt the State and men of science have done something to diminish
the number of casualties. Lighthouses, signals, charts, meteorological
warnings have diminished them greatly, but there remains a thousand
ships and several thousand human lives to be saved every year.

To this end a few men of goodwill put their shoulders to the wheel.
Being good sailors and navigators themselves, they invented a lifeboat
that could weather a storm without being torn to pieces or capsizing,
and they set to work to interest the public in their venture, to collect
the necessary funds for constructing boats, and for stationing them
along