New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-07-11
Social Science.
[Commnnicated BIZ The Friends OF Assoeial
The system of Fourier.

Large cities engulf vast masses OF men IN kind
of living death, and doom them to wear away
/ their existence in wildernesses Of brick amid the
tumult and traffic of crowded streets, while all
Nature Is robing herself in magnlhcence as 1t
were TO regale the senses of her lord, and raising
| her voice III glad anthems to Him who arrays the
| lily in loneliness, and carcth for the linnet on her
tiny wing.
But the swart artizan is 4 stranger TO scenes
! like these The trees may be clothed in beauty
unknown to him. the groves may be resonant with
music that sounds unheedcd by ears attuned only
to the dlscord of creaking machinery; the sea
may be respondent in azure in vain for HIM, and
in vain too may sable night seek to tempt him
abroad by the gorgeous magnificence of her starry
diadem.
Wages, however good or abundant, are not
an index to the happiness of the man, or attest
that he has his rights. He may vote for his rep
rcsentatlve unbiased by any bride or threat, and
yet be slave in SOUL and ground to the very
dust. Ii even he succeed in amasSlng a little
capital, is this TO be counted gain if gathered at
the expense Of worn limbs and aching brows, per-
chance under the eyes Of an cxactng master
Something must evidently be radically wrong
in our political schemes and philosophical sys-
TENS, the one to teach and the other to practice
happiness, and lead them to strive after objects
little calculated to secure any real good. The
patry nature of party plans for the production Of
national or individual welfare is evident to all SIN
cerc, unpreiudiccd minds. Politics can effect no
real and permanent good; they cannot elevate
and give ease comfort and refinement to the mass.
Man is undoubtedly placed on the earth 10 cul-
tivate and embclllsh it. He is invited by It's IN
finite variety to satisfy his ever multiplying wants
and feed his growing faculties and cncirce him
self with his choicest beauties and costest vare-
tics. The elements arc his destined servants,
waiting to do his will, and minister to his wants
and vet science is confined to the few the Gle
menis are untamed, spreading devastation and
havoc where they list; and earth with all its YER
durc and boundless riches is waste, a wilder
ness, an unreclaimcd desert.
And the rcascn is obvious. Society is achaos.
No organizing hand has as yet introduced har-
mony into its conflicting clements and jarring
interests, and angry struggles for individual adj
vance at the expense Of the community. Arbl-
trary arrangements for the fancicd weEeing of
the taw, supplant wcl-consdercd plans for the
promotion of the wealth and happiness of the null
tudc. Aspirations after universal suffrage and
political power supplant patient and impartial en-
deavor to unravel mans relationship with his Gre
ator, with his fellows, and with the universe
Thence arises the wide weltcring misery of the
race. and the no less desolating spectacle of an
earth unrcclaimcd, or lavshing its stores upon
pampered few.
lncontestiby labor is not the lot Of man. lie
may lcgitimately exercise his limbs in extracting
subsistence, and in fact every luxury from the
SOIL Without toll, he could not maintain the
body's health and hardness. But that the vast
multitude of men should be doomed to the soul
deadcning drudgery of beasts Of burden, is libel
on the dignity of humanity.
Nor need any one, even though sitting III the
blaze OF the worli's applause, and elevated on the
glittering pinnacle of wealth and fame, sacrifice
any portion of his golden pleasures and much
priced pomp. No agrarian scheme of division
and anarchy is proposed to rob the rich and ag
grandze the poor. 1t is not proposed to strip the
noble and the wealthy of their broad domains,
their spacious dwellings, their costly furniture,
and Introduce kind of Spartan simplicity into
national or domestic life. On the contrary, the
system of Fourier seeks to show him how the null
titudes may be released from heart-wearlng toll,
and the rich from corrodng care and corrupting
idleness; and yet the poverty strcken many be
raised to opuence, while additional manifcence
surrounds the great. This is the character of the
system of social reform which we advocate.