New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-01-30

indies, for which we are to have certain OK
elusive riShts."-N: y. 7'nes.
Sc:sicsa-cG.s of Soldiers un iHus,lic
F...ns'-
Letter from Judge Ilsiisy.
WAsuINGToN, D. G., Jan. II. 1873.
GENTLEMEN: Yours ofvcstcr,lav, inviting
me to be present at. and to address, q mass
meeting of soldiers, who propose to organize
Il colony and settle upon the public lands.
and their friends, ut Concert Hall, on Satur-
day evening, has been received.
1t would give me pleasure to accept Your
invitation, were it in my power, as | have
great faith in the recent practice of settling
the public lands by colonies. This mode of
settlement relieves frontier life 9fmany Of lis
hardships. and of its tendency in the first
generation toward tarbarsm In former
times the hardy pioneer went into compare
tive solitude, and deprived himself and family
of the enjoyment of social life and those taily
comforts which are only attainabIc as the re-
suits Of neighbOrly relations. social or@aniZa-
ton, and the commerce which naturally arises
between parties engaged in different pursuits
lie also had to wait the slow increase of set
Element to enhance tic value OF his property;
but each member OF colony adds tn the
value Of the land of all others, and they in
turn mpart 10 his homestead or Village lot
that additional value which attaches to it by
reason Of its proximity to church, school
house, and lCcturc-rO0m, to the store and
the mechanical or professional skill of his CO..
c0lOnists. These considerations are very
important 10 the hardy settler but mmeas-
Trably more so to his wife and children, who
may enter with regret and mis@ivngs upon
an enterprise which fills him with hope and
enthusiasm.
-, /
MANY American boys Of tho benefits of an
premiership, Or the privilege of acquiring, on
any terms, a competent knowledge Of any of
the mechanic arts, some Of which result from
the rules of trades unions relating to apDren-
tees, and others from those adopted by the
owners Of large establishments, who prefer
to employ skilled men TO manage their ma
chinery rather than to train youth for il, riI-
turc management, it IS Of primary Importance
that those Of our cOuntrymcn who NAV be
thus denied the privilege OF earning the wages
due to skilled labor, and those who by the
vicisstudCs Of war have been SO Injured rs
to be unable to follow the trades to which
they had been reared, should avail them
selves Of their rights in the public domain.
II has been my privilege to visit number
Of successful colony towns, each one of which
has served to confirm my impressions in "a
vor of the colonial or cooperative system OF
settlement. In these young towns there are
no trades unions or large manufactures. IN
them the workshop prevails, and the fair
hand finds employment 1T current wages,
whethrr he has served full apprenticeship
or not nd the sturdy boy encounters no
obStrn"t N TO his desire to learn ANY branch
Of nldicraft that is practicc,l in the town or
v atty. In Ill Of them work is h0nored,
AID skilled labor in demand. Thus these
new settlements are made to counterfeit the
evil tendencies which seem to me to be for
the present inscparable from great industrial
centres in which there are large concentra-
tons Of capital and labor, with their inevita-
bic antagOnismS.
Another reason for promoting settlement
by colonies is that too large Il proportion of
our Western people are engaged in agricul-
turc, to which the individual pioneer must
devote himself, though he may he aware of
the fact that wheat, corn, or oats will not
pay the cost Of transportation to a market,
and leave him anything as wages for his Ia
Dor, or rent for his land. except the simple
elements of his own hard and unrclincd cX-
istence. But a colony composed largely of
skilled mechanics at once proceeds to avail
itself of the natural forces or. in other words,
to command those servants which Providence
has so boUnteously provided in almost every
part of our country, such as water-power,
coal, and minerals, whether they be iron,
copper, lead, silver, gold. or others. thus
providing for their own wants and creating a
local market for the existing surplus of wheat.
corn, beef. and bacon. The farmers of the
Missouri Valley and Of Iowa are at present
in Il most anomalous condition. They are
all rich i'll the products Of the farm, but are
all very poor, many Of them even to dcsttu-
ton, if their resources are estimated by their
ability to buy for cash the most ordinary ne
ccssaries Of life. This state of affairs results
from tie fact that they have all raised the
sumo mmOdities-wheat, c)rn. oats. and
! live Stockton which there is no market. in
| asmuch rs the States lyin. between and dis
| ( 1t markets have been able To supply the
| demand from their abundant crops. As Il
| e.;ki,y proof of the correctness of this BRO
| !, ,,iti-.,. | point To the fact that, though
Iva j. one vast coal-iield. her farmers, re-
| car,l!c.. of the fact that each successive crop
| Oh corn absorbs n given percentage of the
produe We power of their land, and thus I'M
pairs. in some degree, its productive power
| for the future, are consuming corn ~ fuel.
| Were there in their midst towns settled by
| colonlsts. who had at once engaged in min
| ing coal, blacksmithng. manufacturing. even
| on q small scale, WOODEN goods suitable for
the local market. wagons, ploughs. and other
| agricultural implements, or in shocrnakng,
| tailoring, carpentry, bricklaying. and other
branches of the builders art, there would be
+. a home market for much Of the farmers
grain and provisions. and quick and ample
| return to the colonists for their skill and
labor. But in addition To-, and perhaps more
| important than this, such town would Open
to the farmers sons an opportunity 10 en-
gage, near their homes, in other than agri-
cultural pursuits, and to promote wider
home market for farm products by the wider
| Investigation Of the industries OF the State.
But / must arrest my pen, as l did not
mean 10 write an essay on social science, but
merely to thank you for your cordial invita-
ton and to express an earnest wish for the
success of your enterprise.
Yours, very truly, WIN. ID. KELLEY.
J. G.. Snow, J. ii. X. Storey, ii. Langham
W. H. II. Bradbury, Executive COMMITTEES
| OF the Philadelphia Soldiers Colony,