New-York tribune., 1874-12-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
vopnuorr,s coMMUNIsTIC SOCIETIES.

VATION BY CHARLES NoRDhoff' 0'o' pP' wv
Harper Brothers .
rLa .1r,o communism as applied to the industrial |
associations which have been established unoer that
..me in the United States, bears different sense
from that which is generally given TO IL on the
s,utinent of Europe In the one case 1t slgnhes
voluntary union of individuals for the promotioh Oh
The general good, in which property Is hed pV 'ne
members in common. and not appropriated 70 PHI.
vate benefit. The other aims at the regulation OF
Industry by the State, under system by whlcn
personal capital should be abolished and the pro-
eeeds of labor guaranteed to the OF the
laborer without the concurrence of any ntermedl-
ate power Mr. Nordhoff's work is devoted 10 the
description of various experiments IN the country Oh
the former character, without the discussion Oh
political theories lie has derived MS mater'als
from personal observation having visited the prin-
epal communistic societies in the onneo
States, and taken diligent note OF the pecuilar
features of their religious creed and practices'
their social and domestic customs. aud their indus
trial and financial arrangements Some OF these So
sieties have existed fifty, some twenty-five, and
others for nearly eighty years All of them began
with small means, and some are now in possession
Of great wealth. In pursuing his researches, MIR.
Nordhoff was obliged to take extensive Journeys.
travelling from Maine in the Northeast to Kentucky
In the South and Oregon in the West. With his ex-
septOnay keen powers of perception ana MS haDits
of praciced observation he could not engage IN such
an inouiry without amassing fund of curious infor-
nation and with regard to facts which nave never
been fully disclosed to the comprehension OF the
ppblc In stating the results of HIS Investigations,
he writes with exemplary candOr and impartialty,
though not without the exercise of just and sound
discrimination. For the most part, he views the
subject in its practical bearings. FREQ from cav
ling cenSorious spirit and equally free from the
pOetical enthusiasm which wOuld clOthe novel ex-
pertinent in social life with the colonpg of romance
large proportion of the volume is devoted to the
Society of Shakers, the oldest communstic estab-
lishment in America, the most completely organized,
aud in some respects the most successful and pros
porous. Mount Lebanon, the parent society, and
still the thrfticst, Is eghtytwo years old. bav-
ing been founded in 1892 The description of one OF
these communal institutions will answer. In its gen.
eral details for the whole community comprising
fifty eight distinct families in different parts of the
United States
The Shaker family. or commune. usually consists Of
from thirty eighty ninety men and women,
with such children as may have been apprentced to ne
~ regards its uppsr stories into capabe Of accom-
modatnS from four to eight persons Each room con,
tAus many simple cotbeds AS it has occupants the
necessary washing utensils, small ooSmg % Sl1sS,,
stove for the Winter table for %rT i a. aud eSnsds s
pended from pegs along the wall , wa" "a nay ne o
srps carpet, usually OF very quiet colors'
are isld upon the foo :. but never tackled down: .
and the common dining hall; and in a novtate family
there asS S rs sePIs!f ae . TT "l'f'
Ranged around the family house or dweng are build.
inss for the various pursuits society: the sisters
shop where tailoring DISCRIMINATING. aud other female
industries carried on; the bronrr.' shop wiere
broOmnaklnG, carpentry, aud other mems pursuits are
followed the laundry, the stables. Tue irmt-hOuse,
wood house and often inacnineshops saw-mls etc.
Ii permitted to examine these suol'S anJ tne
dwelling of the family You will noice that tue most
there ~ stove in the room small broom and dnsIpan
hang 1t, and wOodbox stands ny it, scrapeis and
and il the are muddy snowy. broom hung up
outside the outer door mutey reaucss you to brush on
lifted, and the floor beneath Is rs clean az though it
pictures not only because all ornament wrong. but
because frames are places where dust Will lodge The
easily moved away to allow OF dustins aud sweeping
Ss meet % the the @ nS SpE
isbed until they SHINE: :, ,,, o,, mann. oro limo,
o, on M Tu Sp nnd yoa
emily perceive that neatncss order ana absolute clean
Illness rule every where
The government of the Shaker societies is partly
spiritual and partly temporal. Claiming, like Rome
10 represent the Church of Christ on earth, the
visible Head is vested III a ministry, consisting of
male and female, not less than three, and generally
four in number, two of each sex. The first in the
ministry is the leading elder of the society. All the
members are bound, according to their several
abilities to maintain the general interest. Ali labor
with their hands iu useful OccupatlOn for the
common good of the society, or family, to which
they belong. Ministers elders, and dcacons, are
plOyed without exception, i'll some manual Occupa-
ton. The daily routine of life in these Protestant
monasteries is described as follows:
The Shaker family rises at halfpas four in the Sum
mer and five O'Clock the Winter breakfasts
baltpas SIX dimes at twelve sups at SIX and by
nine or past all in bed and the lights out
or rather with ocloth the eat at one
table, women at another aud children at "a third and
silence conversation being ueiu
table. When al assembled or meal tney kneei
In silence for nonent and TINS Is repeated on rl:iag
from the table, l1ug Ill the morning aud De1ore
When they get up iu the morning each person takes
two chars amt setting them back tack takes OFF
bedclothng, piece Gr piece and fol!ine esch neatly
once lays across the BACKS or the CHAIRS the plows
beng first laid The seats OF the chars In the meus
rOums s0ps also carried out Of the house by one
Of thea ana the Room IS then left TO the women, who
sweep, lnake The beds. and put everything to rights
Az I'M; done before oreasst and BY oreakfast ca time
and the days work 10 the shols or In tue neids may
begin.
Each brother Ia assigned to sister who takes care OF
his eIohiuG nends wheD 1t is needed looks after his
pcSe. nn ne M' IL NOT order and Keeps @ general s
teriy oversight over his habits and temporal neeis
sufcient make the work light serving month at a
and the clothes which are washed ON Monday are not
Their diet Is simple Tut sufficient. Pork is never
eaten. aud only part Of the Shaker people eat any
denying a." Themselves I even mix. butter and eggs Al
Aouot Lebanon and in some Of tue other societies. two
tables set wlth the other without meat They
much fruit, eating 1t at every meal ana the
Shakers have always nue. aud extensive vegetable gar
Alter breakfast everybody goes to work; and the
"oaretakers, who subordinate TO the deacOns and
fOremen In fact take their followers 10 their proper
empoyments Wnen as III harvest, an extra number OF
avert ut once u sufficient force to the place The
do not labor IN the nelds. except In such light
They haste to be rich and they have found
M ka lain IN