The Red Cloud chief., 1879-04-24
FAMOUS CTOP1AS
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under vafted forms uf TcliSlcb anu ke'
eminent, there have appeared from ums
to time men OF advanced inielligencs
and keen synpa;hies wbo have delight
ed 10 paint tbe imaginary schemes for
a~melior.;ing the condition of their fel.
low counirymen. Though these PFC
lures have represented visionary PRO
iects rarely brought 10 any practical
test, We; each Successive scheme has AZ
irscted considerable attention ~ b
time, and some Of them have opened out
new views and presented useful suggcs-
lions to which succeeding generations
Of philan,hropis;s have gladly reverted
. make further advances in the same
direction. AL these great speculative
reformers have started from the coin-
mon standpoint Of expressed dissA,is-
faction with the economic and social
condition Of affairs By which they were
surrounded, and have raised the same
complaints against the degraded eondi-
ton of the poorer Glasses. As al their
grievances, so also their remedies have
been identical; and the day dream OF
all alike has been IN ideal
wealth Of conien,ed citizens. bound to-
gether as one united family by the
friendly ties Il common interests. CO.
operating in join, stock industries and
sharing = general fund Of public wealth.
The earlie.; and yet by no means the
least practical OF these ideal States Vas
the famous republic 81 Plato. The mar
ve,ous comprehensiyeness Of his scheme
Of government was worthy Of the pupil
Of Socrates, and the first heather phil
osopher who believed and taught the
Immortality Of the soul. The greater
part Of his treatise might have been
written for the present age; and. indeed.
some Of his problems are still moot
points Of modern discussion. Starting
from the assumption that all existing
States are divided again Z themselves,
by r. that the poor are ever NJ va
rance with the rich, be proceeds I'd
sketch an ideal State Of perfect unity,
in which no elements Of diScord can ex-
ist. There shall be neither rich persons
nor poor, for the State shall provide
equally for all; neither shall the eXclu-
siveness Of birth nor other fortuitous
inequalities be allowed to break toe easy
bonds by which all citizens, both male
and female, may be bound together in
one harmonious commonwealth. Each
newborn child, regarded as n unit Of
the body polite, shall be taken from its
parents and brought up under the SUI
peryision and direction Of the State, in
regard To its education. employment and
future settlement in life. Though no
accumulation of private property may
be allowed, yet the citizens shall be d.
..lol ..,n f.aaao annnrAin~ 70 sb.,r 70
spective education and abilities. IL Is
only when he deals with the question Of
marriage that the ancient coarser ideas
offend the modern respect for the sancti-
ty of domestic relations.
Sir Thomas More, again, in his de-
scrip,ion of Utopis, while copying many
of the characteristics Of Plato's repub-
lie, insists on the sacredness Of family
relations aud fidelity To marriage con
tracts as indispensable To the well being
of society. He relieves also the Spartan
simplicity of his ancient prototype with
many of the comforts and Injuries of
modern civilization. The details Of
government in mis- happy island are car
pointed by popular election. To this
governing body is delegated the duty Of
distributing the instruments and appor-
tiOning the tasks of productive industry
among all the inhabitants, while the
wealth resulting from their united and
easy labors goes 10 form a public fund,
in which all may equally participate.
There can be no want or scarcity, for
every citizen must work vet no fatigue
or WEAKNESS, for the hours of labor do
not exceed six a day. There is no use
for money, as food and all nccessaries
are supplied from the common stock.
Meals are laid out in public, for all TO
share alike, and they are rendered more
enjoyable by the accompaniment Of
sweet strains OF music and the scents Of
delicate perfumes.
No citizen is allowed to grow up in
ignorance, for education is compulsory
and universal. Sickness is miDimized
by the wisest principle of sanitary re-
form, and crime by a complete revision
of criminal legislature; while piety and
good conduct are encouraged by absO-
lutte religious liberation and perfect So
cial equality. Yet ven this romantic
sketch of perfect happiness could not be
complete without a blot TO mar lis SYM
metry. Where one ma was as good as
another, and ample means OF subsist-
ence were guaranteed to all, 1t became
necessary to find some showers Of wood
and drawers of WATER 10 perform the
laborious, mental and offensive kinds Of
work, and slaves, therefore, had TO be
introduced into the happy island TO IN
dertake these sordid services. The evil,
however, is mitigated by making this
degradation a part Of the criminal sys-
tenn in Utopia; and accordingly we find
that slavery is awarded a. a form of
punishment, and graduated according
to the crime, from short slavery for
trivial ~offenses to slavery for life in lieu
of capital punishment.
Such was the ideal picture of perfect
political order and social happiness
which presented themselves 10 the clear
views Of the wisest philosopher Of
Greece at a period when Athens was
the great school Of culture To the whole
civilized world, and 70 the clever imag-
nation Of the bold speaker and upright
chancellor of England, at . time when
he was resisting 20 the death the OPP
pressiye exactions Of . despotic sover-
eign. The purport Of either treatise is
not inaptly described in its title, the
one being the complete outline Of . COM
monwealth suited 70 the age for which
it was drawn, and the other the nara
tive of q beautiful dream Of I" nowhere"
"A vision of " ou-topos," or the impos-
sible island. We are told, indeed, that
Plato's republic was actually copied and
brought to prac.icl trial; that, after
the death of Pix:o, his pu Jils were en-
ployed by the States Of Arcadia. Els
and Corridus TO arrange their Govern
ment according to the model Of his re-
public; but the fact may be doubtful,
and the result Is not recorded. More's