Show socialism in america THE tiie RELIGIOUS HELI beni GrOUS S PROS AND HIGH rioh tim THE OWEN AND FOURIER pou rOU bien RIEp excitement THE OLD erite EniTE LEADERS NOW EMINENT CITIZENS wa WHO to alie ARE iut FIT FOR AS association SHOULD BE SACREDLY SAC sao KEDLY maintained TIL THE ONEIDA BONEIDA COMMUNITY all alk address on the history of american socialism and its ibi lesson to the refined and alid cultivated 7 was delivered before tho the ifer new now york liberal club in Feb 1872 1873 b by 8 leavitt an abstract of it wl will I 1 be of interest ill in view of the anticipated revival of scientific socialism tn in ills liis prefatory remarks remark s lie he said it was in furtherance of his stron strongest gest life purpose that he preen proon presented s ted the merits of socialism he averred that americans are aro deceived in thinking that they have made a healthy new now departure in civilization As things now go the united states are only nifty fifty years ahead of the misery of europe brutal force of will and cunning have a freer swing in this than in any other coun unless the masses adopt some scientific means of salvation their doom is sealed gigantic corporations and trade kings will swill in a very few years rule ani ang and ruin the country already the unused soil soll and the minerals beneath it are mainly in the grasp of the avar avaricious few even from far california comes the cry that there is no chance for small farmers there he quoted from victor hugos les Ese Mise rabies an eloquent description of the rise of french socialism hugo says that the two ureal great problems to produce and distribute must both be solved communism and agrarian law do nob not solve the problems their distribution kills production he then presents remedies similar to those of fourier which are intended to protect the poor while encouraging the rich the lecturer then thus described the old lights of or 1 I approach with mingled awe hwe and reverence that enchanted that holy ground upon so many who are aro now leaders in the councils of this nation once trod with buoyant step while their souls were full of enthusiastic anticipation of the year one of universal human perfection fec tion it was a noble and beautiful faith that filled the minds of american SoUa socialists lists duning during the ex citing oue Our of more exciting days of 1812 to 1850 some borne men now eminent may feel rather ashamed of tile the youthful ardor they displayed in those far days my word to them is better to have bave loved and lost than nevor never nev nes or to havo loved at all for one I 1 will say that it Is greeley the Fourie rito rite ripley dana parke godwin brisbane G william curtis hawthorne the thi fourne Fourie rites whom I 1 admire their later and showier aspects except perhaps in mr air greelegs greeleys Gree leys case seem commonplace in comparison I 1 must dwell somewhat here upon these old socialistic cia listic leaders I 1 because the fact is a curious one t hat so many who threw their whole souls into the Fourie rito rite movement are now solid men of wealth and position leaders ill in lit literature and politics let na us go over the list of mr greeley I 1 need say nothing george ripley has won himself the name of being the best book critic in lit this country he is a solid member of the trib tribune uno une association charles charley A dana has made his mark in lit various ways parke parko godwin long a mainstay the evening fost poet has hag las wealth and a high social bt standing anding 17 george william curtis gurtis as editor of H harper harpor period periodicals icah alone has a it most enviable position he is moreover one of our leading political lights albert brisbane faithful among the faithless has the honor of being only one among the old of who still the propagation of that faith life purpose win H channing glorious enthusiast who strove vain so long to enkindle in thinkers of this country ills his heated zeal for the reorganization of society is enjoying learned leisure free from sordid cares of ralph waldo emerson need only say lie was one of f or na tors of brook earm farm grea greatest t es t socialistic experiment of hew IV england where ripley dana hawthorne curtis theodore parker argaret margaret SI fuller and a li host ost of other literary lights strove to remodel society henry james having ingdon won a high niche nicho in the literary worlds worl dis also enjoying a learned ease N C meeker after being a most fascinating and amusing 11 agricultural cultum I 1 edi edl editor tor of the trivun tribune na has established the famous town of greeley ill in colorado robert dale I 1 owen though never perhaps a comes properly in this list ile he is a leading man in politics and literature truly systems which enlisted the tho heartiest sympathies of such men as these thebe I 1 have enumerated were wor worthy t hy orsome of some thin tiling better than the tile fl flippant sneer which wilia the mention of t them usually calls forth 12 and now as tt tb the tilo general purpose po 0 o of this address the idea which I 1 wish first to impress is that there then is in the America american ii heart a deep undercurrent of disgust at the tle form in which society is organized second that the uprising of the people in favor of the reorganization of society in the owen and founier fourier excitement was fa far r mightier and more widespread than most people imagine third that the success attained was sufficient to encourage further efforts in this direction and fourth that there has been and can bel no permanent success of integral socialism except where the alle m movement is based upon stran strong g religious religions convictions vict ions sy ys 11 he had no new now discoveries in the history of socialism to present and wished to dwell mainly upon the lessons to be derived from it he ile would make some use of noyes royes book which was mainly compiled from the manuscripts 0 mcdonald who spent from 1812 to 1854 in visiting tino the wrecks of socialistic experiments in this country the other principal sources tion were the newspapers the successful associations were enumerated at considerable length the facts being obtained from a man named jacobi who spent from 1850 to 1858 visiting C all the communities in the country his list is as follows 1 11 I ephrata ephrath Eph rata started in pennsylvania by belzel in 1713 they grew nich rich had thousands of mem bersand a remnant re bained in 1838 1858 2 in 1774 came all ail ann n lee and the shakers they have eighteen societies 3 tile the mp bap of whose riches so much is said began in pennsylvania in 1803 they sold their town harmony and eres acres cres of land laud to robert owen iii 1824 and built economy they are millionaires 4 zoar ohio was founded by bimeler and followers in lit 1816 live married or as choose ili lii are rich and a moral people le and number goo 6 5 snow now tb hin hiu I 1 community Pennsylvania was waa founded fou in 1820 in 1858 they were well off 6 metz founded ebenezer 1 near pittsburg in 1846 they are under tile the guidance ef of an invisible spirit which seems seeing to possess good business ability they permit marriage when th this 1 spirit consents they have thousands of members some bringing in ac and have acres in iowa 7 the bishop hill ill ili swedish colony began ill in 1846 1840 in lit 1858 they weme were strong and well efm eff they prefer celibacy but do not object to marriage 8 the community iowa began in 1854 it lias has 60 members and 1829 acres they sustain alti the uie ordinary family and marriage relations w after passing pacing in review the tilo I 1 communities of which lie said these inorganic mobs soon went to nameless shreds and dissolution lie came to Fourier ism iam and showed that the uprising of the people in favor orthis of this system was very great the tile persons that are found oil on macdonaldd Mac donalds list oly only include those wiio wilo engaged in the prin principal pal pai attempts it is esti estl estimated estimate mat d that american I 1 people were proud of the name of Foun erite about 1846 yet though these fantastic attempts were mostly disastrous failures old socialists maintain manntai it that as a result of them a yearning for social reconstruction has become a part of odthe the tho permanent inner ex experience eri erl of tho the people A brief description gasthen wa gl gleif given eif elo of the numerous wild attempt samong tile tilo barren mountains of Pennsylvania by people who were wore assessed assessed of the thi land mania and thought that salvation was in in proportion to tile tiie aclis acids acres pos I 1 hessed but said he the above associations only represent one of the movement men by the thousand vast tracts of rich land and abundance of money and goods were attracted into these undertakings farms farm s were put in lit ly by farmers other othey lva iva reau real I 1 estate provisions tools were bought in as is freely as in apostolic communism times there were at least a dozen on a grand scale in massachusetts chu no new now york ohio illinois Illino isi wisconsin and ru indiana diana dlana one of the tho most favorable specimens of western phalanxes was ceresco beresco Ce resco the wisconsin attempt it made a long hard pull of it and finally died of speculation the property becoming valuable they tiley sold bold it to le get e t individual di amual profit As in the north orth american amerlean phalanx of new jersey which lasted fourteen years the tile people lacked tile tilo esprit du copps corps which in found only in lit societies that are Unit unite ilby edby liby a common faith con corn cern cerni njg nig the eternal destinies of the human soul in this regard tilo tile the sexual relations the speaker maintained that proof had been given that the onel oneida theory that integral socialism is impossible in connection with ordinary marri marriages lages is untenable the hopedale hospedale Hop edale mass bucce iss of seventeen years and north alne arno american N J of fourteen years would show this but the german corn coin communities mu settle bettle it beyond cavil noyes noye s shows great disappointment in his book because he cannot find much mischief from sexual relations in the history of socialism mr sears claims that there was purity in tho the north America american nj aldno and no serious trouble troubie in this respect again we vo tro lre are ire told that women will quarrel in the but bat ife Afe meeker eker oker who is a terrible growler said of the north american the society was vas select and it was highly enjoyed to this day do members and particulars women look back to that period as the happiest in their lives young people had fow few proper wishes which were not gratified they seemed enclosed within walls which beat back the storms of life they were surrounded with whatever was useful innocent and beautiful neighborhood quarrels were unknown nor was there any trouble amon among t children coming to the moral of his story mr leavitt expressed a wish to aid ald au in the rescue of the refined and cultivated but class from to and depend dependence enbe upon the vulgar rich or the brutally energetic who more and more lord it over this fair land but said lie he 1 I feel that refined and cultivated does not designate fully ful fui lythe tile tiie class to which I 1 refer although now spec specially lally speaking to cultivated people the one wie great genus that I 1 desire to attract to the associative life is the tho 1 nan bially un combative those whom 9 an Y conscientiousness religious fervor r benevolence good nature lovo of df solitude love of philosophy and science artistic devotion to musie music musie music poetry painting or sculpture or any other other such hindrance prevents revel its from engaging heartily in lit the lot liot brutal struggle for the dollar finally ho he asked what moral meral is to be drawn from the oneida cora Cota community I 1 repeat as to their immoralities what I 1 have always said that I 1 consider eon sider that they are honest but hut grossly misled in their views of marriage and that their supposed great discovery has introduced thern them simply to a sort of a spiritual and magnetic adultery which is nothing more than tile tilo sexual intercourse with which the hells tells have been familiar for perhaps millions of years they ofner offer no small problem to america and the world and I 1 tell you that though no more prosperous than haifa half a dozen dozell other oilier less demonstrative communities muni ties they tiley are aro ma making alln g a stir in lit the earth success as I 1 said is I 1 is everywhere worshipped wor shipped and their grand plantations workshops and unitary dwellings with their clear profit of some a year are a vely prominent subject of thou thought TJ iii lit and talk in all christendom the lie lle tribune published a fierce letter lately demanding that they should be uprooted asa as a nuisance this is not the way americans nullify such evils all the old socialist sas they watch with openmouthed open mouthed wonder this thit great reat success in a line in lit which they failed rub their eyes and ind und scarcely believe relieve their senses they kly say sas this is the way we lo 10 longing ugin g sought I 1 and they will not be satisfied with with any overthrow of onelda oneida immoral immorality except by a superior success of truly moral people As one aho vho believes that whereas great warriors statesmen philosophers and inventors have swayed multitudes of men from front their chosen courses couT courses ses 4 the tile heavenly powers can exercise a still greater influence on the amm aff mairs lairs of humanity as one in lit short who believes in providence iam inclined to think that the oneida community has been allowed such a success that the world might ml 9 have a striking practical exa example pie of the feasibility of the associative ive lve life lioe ife ire among ordinary americans and det yet yet bo be prevented from following the till example too hastily if the tilo Onel dans had not adopted such extraordinary tra ordinary notions and find practices hilegard in hi regard to the tile relations of or the sexes bexes thousands would have rushed headlong into their fold As it is tho the stigma keeps people away awas and permits them to accumulate and print printa a mass of practical facts and experiences that will be very valuable to all future operators cooperators co I 1 have only ono one word in conclusion instead of the magical number of men and acres and dollars prescribed by Fourier being aleeda needed to inaugurate associative life the tile history of all the successful associations shows that while it is well also to work from a grand circum circumference for of external plans material and machinery the tile great essential is a nucleus of congenial mu dually loving and forbearing hearts bound closely together by a common religious religion faith i from a pamphlet ay S R wells nem xem new york i |