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dDpeti Cntraril..&.
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flH T|HIS DBPAIITMBNT, A8 AM. OPINIONS, ...
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NATIONAL UNIQN OF WORKINU-MUN'S ASSOCIAT...
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" PEACE, THE DESTROYER." Battle, June 10...
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CALIFORNIA AT HOME. June 2,1851. Sir,—Ca...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Progress Of Cabet's Community At Nauvoo....
The labour of the kitchen and dining-room is performed regularl y b y four men and three women . After tea , foijr other women come into help » and in this latter function , all the women of the Community t & e turn * a week at a time . On Sunday the cooks ha-ge . also twp other men to aid them . There is no cooking aj private kitchens except for nurses and the fligfe » all the meals being prepared and taken in
common . The washing is done at a half-a-mile distance , on a little ereek which flows into the Missouri . The e ] othes are received by two women charged with that duty j they are carried in a wagon to the wajih-house "Wfeere the labour of washing is done b y fourteen "women with the assistance of one man , After being dried they are handed over to the menders , and finally to the ironers , from whom they are again taken by the two over-seers and distributed to their owners . The schools are far from complete , and in consequence the Community has been obliged to decline many applications which it has received for the admission of pupils from abroad . From this source , as soon as the proper arrangements are completed , the institution may derive a large income .
The affairs of the Community are discussed and decided in weekly meetings , held on Saturday evenings , when all the members , men and women , are expected to be present . The majority decides . "Women take part in the deliberations , but not in the votes . The Community publishes a weekly paper called the Popular Tribune . It has some three or four hundred subscribers . Most of the original articles are written in French by M . Cabet and the other editors , and translated into English before going to the compositors . Sunday is devoted to recreation , as is the habit of the French at home . The Community has among its members fifteen instrumental musicians , and the
young people , and indeed the greater part of the other members , are trained to sing in chorus . There are dances in the open air , and the theatre within doors . A temporary stage is erected and arranged in the large dining-hall , and there comedies and vaudevilles are performed for the amusement of both actors and audience . The children take part in the performances , and exclusion from the stage or the chorus on Sunday is the severest punishment that can be inflicted on the disorderly at school .
No religious ceremonies are observed in the Community . M . Cabet regards his doctrine as being purely that of the Founder of Christianity . In his view , work and happiness are the best and truest worship , and a Society based on and living in equality and fraternity needs no other ritual . This , with the mode of spending Sunday , has scandalised some of the neighbours , but none who have visited the Icarians on that day have been able to deny that they seemed happier than people in the common world without . —New York Tribune , May 24 .
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flH T | HIS DBPAIITMBNT , A 8 AM . OPINIONS , HOWRVKK BXTRHMR , AUU ALLOWHD AN KXVRHU 8 ION , THE KUITOU NUOUSWAIULV m ) LVU lliajHI ' . I . F KKSPUNJIHU . ^ l' ^ tt NOMB-J There is no learned man but . will confess he hnth much profited by reading controversies , hia Benaea awakened , » n 4 his judgment sharpened . 11 ; then , it be profitable for hjra Iq read , why uhould it not , at leuat , Ue loleruble for his adversary to write . —Mu-ton .
National Uniqn Of Workinu-Mun's Associat...
NATIONAL UNIQN OF WORKINU-MUN'S ASSOCIATION . Letnla , Juno 18 , ( 851 . 8 m , —rA » the mover of the resolution at the Congresa © i tho ltodemptitm Society lust week for the formation oC a . general Union of Working-men ' s AaBOcintionu , you will perhaps allow mo to show ruthor more fully the mode in which I / concoivo the proponed Union Wight bo carried out . My reasons , for proposing that resolution I have tnted in the introduction to * ' Lectures on Social Science , " y ou wiil excuse my tranncribing the patuago . " One of the many ways in which the development © f the associative principle mig ht be materially assisted would be b y tho formation of u Rational TJnion of Association !* managed by « centrul committee , haying at ftrat no control over the internal
advantages which such an union confers . TJie object of Working-men ' s Associations being so much , more extensive , and the problems they are solving so much more difficult , and as they have not yet obtained the assistance of the middle class in their business management , and are not sufficiently versed in business details themselves , I conceive it doubl y necessary that they should have every help whicl combination can afford . As Mr . Baines well
observed , at the late meeting of delegates , at Leeds " It was a matter of little consequence who were the Central Committee , provided only the Institutes were united . It was a matter of little moment whether the committee which held them together , was a band of gold , or a whisp of straw , providing the Institutions were kept together in harmonious cooperation , so that they might each derive all the benefit , the stimulus , and the information which such a union was calculated to impart , "
Mr . John Holmes , of Leeds , will be in London in a few days ; and I trust that , with your valuable assistance , and that of our friend the Reverend E . R . Larken , the above suggestion may assume a practical form . I remain ; dear sir , yours truly , James Hole .
arrangements of any society ; but confining itself to the task of collecting and diffusing the actual experience of all the Associations in Great Britami and any others it might find expedient to notice . Such an Union would possess the follpwing advantages : — " 1 . By the publication of an annual report , it might make the general community acquainted with the actual results of tb , e Local Associations . It might also obtain important statistical information . Each body of workingTinen wishing to cooperate has to learn from its own failures and successes ; whereas they might thus avail themselves of the experience ,
and avoid the defects of the existing Associations , A number of working-men wishing to form a cooperative store , would be greatly helped by a knowledge of the rules , calculations , and method of doing business , already in successful operation . The laws relating to Joint Stock , Benefit , and Friendly Societies are not of easy access , but might thus easily be made so ; and the opinion of the central committee would be useful in points of difficulty . When it was desirable to obtain the repeal , alteration , or enactment of laws relating to Associations , the central body would be much more powerful than the isolated
Associations . . " 2 . The National Union of Associations might employ agents to diffuse that information orally , which they embodied annually in their reports . The agents might visit every town and village , and encourage the formation of As « ociations where the means existed . The agents would also be useful in promoting a closer connection between local societies and the central committee . Ultimately , the central committee mieht become the medium for effecting exchanges
between the various societies . It would be capable of giving an aim , a leading tendency of direction to Working-men ' s Associations , which they do not now possess . The Associations hitherto formed are deficient in the power of expansion . The cooperative flour mill remains a flourmill ; and , if a cooperative store is wanted , new machinery is needed . A very little wisdom could combine these with the School , the Mechanics' Institute , and the Associated Home , into one grand Association . "
To these advantages you have pointed out two additional ones , which , as you justly observe , " would amply repay any effort of the kind . It would fortify the confidence of Socialists of all sections , by displaying their number ; by the same process it would at once draw in a number of adherents , who would avow themselves if they knew the numbers already prepared to stand by them . " The first step should be a meeting of a few of the
best known friends of the associative movement in London , to form a provisional committee for enrolling societies into the Union , and conducting its operations until a central committee could be formally elected by the representatives of the various cooperative Associations scattered throughout the country . The committee should combine all the various parties who , though divided on many matters of principle and detail , are yet agreed on the desirableness of the general diffusion of associative views .
As soon as a committee had been formed , and a secretary appointed , a circular might be addressed to all theWorking-men ' sAssociations , cooperative stores , fiourmillss & c M throughout the country , inviting them to enroll themselves into the union of Associations , and requesting information respecting the origin , condition , and prospects of each society . In order to defray expenses , the societies giving in tjlicir
adhesion to the ' National Union of Working-men ' s Associations , " might be requested to contribute the sum of Is . for each £ 100 of their capital . This almost nominal sum , or even half of it , might heroafter form the annual subscription to the centrul union . I have no doubt it would be found amply sufficient to defray all the expenses of the central committee , whicli would at first only consist of postngo and the remuneration of a secretary .
Among other items of information which at first it would be moat desirable to ascertain , and which might be arranged in the form of a schedule , are the following : — The name of the society . Date established . Business of the Association . Amount of capital . Total amount of business annually transacted . Number of members . ltateH of contribution . Whether enrolled or otherwise-. Objects for which the Association was eHtublishsd . The nature of tho advantages derived by the members—moral or peouniary . Principal obntacleH ( if any ) to success . These are offered merely as hints for a commencement . Jtaph aucceoding year m the AuHoitiatioiiB increauc ! , and the union combined a larger number of thorn , many of the interesting and iiiHiruotive pointij connected with the Hiicccsoful management might bo elucidated . As a necretary of thojYorkHhire Union of Mechanics ' IiiHtitutcH , a combination of 117 Mechanics' Iimtitutes , and containing 20 , 000 momberH , I can speak to tho
" Peace, The Destroyer." Battle, June 10...
" PEACE , THE DESTROYER . " Battle , June 10 , 1851 . Sir , —I could scarcely believe that a writer usually so enlightened and profound , could have written what appears in your Journal of last week under the head of " Peace , the Destroyer . " I believe and trust such sentiments are little in accordance with the general views of social reformers , and of those who seek to establish moral supremacy in the affairs of men . Before I notice the Peace movement which you condemn , and which by the way is not strictly concerned in the discussion called forth by your correspondent " Farewell , " I will briefly reply to what I believe to be fallacious and injurious in your article , and leave to " Farewell" the arguments which he would adduce in favour of his propositions .
First , you doubt the superior force of moral over physical power ; hence you approve of resorting to physical force in removing tyranny and oppression , independently of the moral conditions necessary to success ; or , in other words , you would justify the means by the end . But , supposing that end be the sovereignty of the people and the subjugation of their tyrants , have we not ample proofs in history that it degenerates into a nullity ; and that power is but another word for tyranny , especially in a country where the people are too imbecile to obtain liberty by other means ? and it is in vain to prevent an unenlightened people from having their heroes and leaders .
You eeem also in your article entirely to forget the power that people have of improvement , and that various means of educating and instructing each other are , even in our country , totally neglected ; and instead of oppression and imposition tending to retard the progress of society , as you assert it to do , I believe it to have quite a contrary effect , and that it serves to stimulate to energy and exertion where inertia and apathy would otherwise exist . I must also entirely dissent from you where in the last paragraph you maintain that , until we develope the principle of concert , we may usefully and with propriety resort to physical force as a moans of liberation , because it is a strong natural faculty to do so , and that other means would he unsuitable in the
present state of society ( I believe I do not exaggerate ) . Should we not rather urge people to seltimprovement , and stimulate them to noble exertion by appeals to thoir best feelings , and thereby prepare them to make good use of power when they get it ? With regard to the Peace movement , I think you have entirely mistaken its mission . That mission , I have always understood to relate to substitution ot arbitration instead of the Bwor-d . in tho settlement of national differences , and not to inolude those social struggles which spring out of civilization . I ajn , dear Sir , yourB sincerely , Uni , on .
California At Home. June 2,1851. Sir,—Ca...
CALIFORNIA AT HOME . June 2 , 1851 . Sir , —California is a country swarming with eager gold-seekers , who make it the object of their liven to find the precious metal , and , having accomp lished thiH , to keep it . Kach possessor of it is aware that ho ia surrounded by those who desire only a favourable opportunity to appropriate the results of hia labour to their own uhcb , and accordingly ho lives in a state of perpetual enmity with his species . Some individual may probably ease him of the " burden of riches" by violent means , or perhaps a gam , bler may legally filch the hoarded treasure . The beggared emigrant ' must get gold ngain , or starve , ; uu 4 he acquires it lawfully or otherwise , or not at »"> uncording to circumstances . Truly this in not a very agreeable state vt things for any party . HappincHH in of course yuite out oi the question . Newspapers are eager to < IiH 8 uade their readers from , venturing into the modern bll Dorado to Heurch among its hiiihIh for golden treuBure . Ana men credit them , and very rightly . They wisely
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1851, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21061851/page/20/
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