Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/272

* COMMUNISM. 224 COMMUNISM. tions between men should be thrown down. Such colonies would prove so attractive that the exist- in"; industrial system would break down because of the desertion of the workmen. In 1S1!» it was attempted to start such a colony at Jlothervvell, but the funds were not sullicient. In 1824 Owen came to .merica, where his presence did much to start a wave of communistic thought, and where some twehe colonies were planted, none of which lasted more than a few years. During his absence (182l)) some of his friends purchased 291 acres of land at Orbiston. near Glasgow, and built a large building in which all should live, each sharing in the division according to his labors. The" death of one of the founders, with otlicr difficulties, brought an end to the plan, t'iniilar colonies at Rahaline in the tliirties and Queenswood (1841) likewise failed, the latter after live years' existence. Owen"s attempts to realize communism were not successes: he did succeed, however, in establishing cooperation. (See Owen. Robert.) Other notable attempts along the same line were made in England by Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes, to whose biographical notices in this work the reader is referred. Communism in America. The centre of inter- est in communism is henceforth in America. One of the provisions in the 'oldest American charter' (1006) was that there should be a common store- house in which the products should be kejit, and from which each should receive according to his needs. .Tamestown lived under this scheme for five years, the idlers giving Capt. .John Smith much trouble meantime. The Pilgrims had similar arrangements, which were soon changed, but for a long time much land was held in common. Of this custom Boston Common is a survival. These arrangements were but temporary, however. In 1774, driven by religious opposition, 'Mother Ann I.ee' came from England with a small com- pany of Quakers, who were called Shaking Qua- kers because of certain physical movements in religious exercises. The name was soon short- ened to Shakers. They settled at Watervliet. near Albany. N. Y. Mother Ann died in 1784. In 1787 a covenant was adopted establishing celibacy and comnninity of goods. Their communism grew out of their religion. Christianity, they .say, does not admit of divisions into rich and poor; 'mine' becomes 'ours.' and riches and poverty, with their misei'y, disappear. The Shakers have lived happily and contentedly and have had great material prosperity. Says Professor Ely: "Eco- nomically the Shaker.^ have been a great suc- cess." They have now some seventeen societies in different States, the largest being at Mount Lebanon, N. Y. They own some very valuable property. (See Sh.kers.) The Harmonists, or Separatists, as they were called in Germany, left the Fatherland because of sectarian op])osi- tion and settled in 1805 at Harmony, Pa., under the leadership of George Kapp. They, too. have been very successful financially. At one time they had a thousand members, but now only forty or fifty remain. They are obliged to em- ploy outsiders to cari-y on their enterprise.s, so that they have practically l)ecome a close corpora- tion. See Haemoxist.s. The Amana Community of seven villages in Iowa was founded by another German sect, the Jiispiratioinats, who settled near Buffalo, X. Y., in 1842, niovins to Iowa in 183.5, Relision is the primary thing. Yet they have prospered and possess fertile and well-improved lands. They number 1800 or more. Jlarriage is permitted, in 1844 yet another Gei-man sect settled at Beth(?l, JIo.. moving later to Aurora, Ore. They have been fairly successful. (See Amana. ) The French in 1848 under Cabet, who tried to estab- lish Icaria, were not successful. After many dis- couragements and disappointments they were finally settled in Iowa. Trouble followed trouble, and the end came in 1895. See Icahians. All of these communities were started by for- eigners, though most of the Shakers have been Americans. An American colony of some fiftj- members was started by .John Humphrey Noyes in 1847 at Oneida, N. Y. Later a small branch was established at Wallingford, Conn. They be- lieved in freedom from sin and wei'e called Per- fectionists (q.v.). Between 1840 and 1850, under the leadership of Albert Brisbane, Horace Gree- ley, Charles A. Dana, and others. Fourierism spread over the country, Greeley advocating it in the New York Trihiiiie. Some thirty-four 'pha- lanxes' were started in various places, most of which were short-lived. The most famous was Brook Farm (q.v.), near Boston, which began as a cooperative school. The North American Phalanx, in Monmouth County, N. J., was the most successful, lasting some twelve years ( 1843- 5(5). Ripon, Vis., dates back to the Wisconsin Phalanx of 1844. This association paid $1.08 on the dollar when it dissolved. The movement gradually subsided. In recent years a number of attempts to found communistic settlements have been made, but the_y have broken down largely because of inter- nal" dissensions. Among these may be mentioned Kaweah, in California (1884); Topolobampo, Mexico (1886) ; and the Ruskin Coiiperative Col- ony, in Tennessee (1893). The only recent Euro- pean settlement was an attempt in 1895 to realize the ideals of Hertzka's 'Freiland' in Africa. The reason for the failure of many of these en- terprises is not far to seek. Lack of unity of purpose and iuia ise management bring sure de- struction. Fourierism was a comj)romise. It re- tained gross inequalities while condemning those of the world. It was not a unifying principle. On the other hand, those which have succeeded have possessed just this unity — usually in adher- ence to some social or religious ideal which has made the interests of the individual the interests of the group. That material prosperity has ac- companied this luiity liistory clearly shows. The social life of the Shakers and of the Amana Com- munity has always deeply impressed the visitor from the outside world. Howells in his Undiscov- ered Country tells of their life and makes one of his characters say, "They're w^hat they seem; that's their great ambition." In his autobiography, Horace Greeley wrote of the Shakers: ''No one will pretend that they have failed. No; they have steadily and eminently expanded and in- creased in wealth and every element of material prosperity, until they are at this day just ob- jects of en^-y to their neighbors. They produce no paupers: they excrete no beggars: they have no idlers, rich or poor: no purse-proud nabobs, no cringing slaves. If there were no other success akin to theirs — but there is — it would still be a demonstrated truth that men and women can live :ind labor for general, not selfish, good — can banisli pauperism, servitude, and idle-