River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-28
THE TOM HUGHES. CoLOSs.
Attention Attracted to the New ssaShs
i'm England.
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onies, and it would be rash to say tina
this has no promise because there neN
er was anything like it. Colonies hav
been founded by sheer necessity, dri,
en- from hunger from one part of tn
| world to any other part where lOde
ing could be effected They have bee
| founded by the operation of religion
or political animosities. They hav
been founded to extend commerce OF
hospitable shores, and i'll natural line
of communication They have beer
founded with the bond of race, of Ian
guage or of superior civilization. /
has generally been held necessary Il
their success that they should hold vel
together, keep up strong line OF de
maFcation, and be at arms length
| with untractable or intrusive neighbors
There has always been present the idea
Of q transplanting or reproduction O
the old country left behind, as it is, OF
rs it ought to he; or if not all Of it, the
best parts, Even 10 the present day
there are German and Swedish and
States. IN no regular colonial form, bat
consisting of settlers migrating from
the same European countries. and keep.
ing together FOR convenience and com
pany's sake. The Irish, with all THEN
exaggerated nationality and continual
cry Of Ireland for the Irish, onoe land
ed in America, hold together no longer
than quite suits their purposes. Once
in possession Of money or land, they
follow fortune wherever ii offers an
opening. But fusion, modification, or
even transformation are rapid process
Is in a new world, The descendants
of the pilgrim fathers, after passing
through a stage Of the widest fanati-
cjsm, are sharp men Of business, with
an eye to the main CHANCE. The de-
scendantS Of the mystics who founded
the Quaker city are proud aristooracy.
So what is there to give character, en-
duFapce, or even the most short-lived
consistency to Mr.. Hughes planP 1t is
q point on which We will be cantent to
confess uncertainty. Even if there has
been no such colony yet, there may be
one still. In the almost entire absence
of the ordinary requisites and guaran-
tees, the desired life and solidarity must
be looked for in Mr.. Hughes own very
original character, and in the generous
associations and energetic impulses Of
his school and social surroundings. No
doubt Rugby has been a name Of pow
er, and an outbutst OF fresh life IN this
country, and it is not unreasonable TO
hope that such plant will bear trans
planting TO different, possibly not less
congenial soil. The bond of the COM
munity will be q certain idea to he lm-
braoed and a spirit to be infused. These
will shortly have to take form, and ev-
crything will depend on the concrete
fact carrying out the abstract principle
Failure would he no disgrace, not even
an exception in this case. The most
original people in the world, teeming
with poetic inspirations, We're found
wanting in political husbandry. In ex-
act proportion to the difficulties would
be the splendor of success. All the
world might rejoice at the proved pos
sibility of a new thing.
The territory secured is Of the size of
Il medium English county. The lati-
tude is that Of the south Of Spain, Sic
lily, the Morea, and the southern states
of Asia Minor. This, however, gives
to Europeans no indica ion of the eli
mate, which is said to be delightful: the
winter only two months, and the sum
mer not intolerabIe. Tennessee, how
ever, lies lower south than Virginia,
WHICH is about as much as Englishmen
can work in with pleasure. Much, how
ever, depends on the local circumstan-
ces, and the new territory is on the
western slope Of the Alleghenies. The
county town, as it may be called, is al
ready laid out, and the programme of
public cdiiices may remind one of the
grand architectural works which l3neas
found Dido busily experimenting. All
will anxiously watch the experiment of
u church to be used in common that
is, in turn by all the communities re-
quiring a building for religious purpos-
es. There are to be cooperative stores,
schools and play-felds. Mr., Hughes
will probably have to feel his way in
the municipal arrangements, which
must depend on the character alike of
the government and Of the governing
classes, or Of the single class to be dealt
with New Rugby is on a trunk rail-
way connecting Cincinnati with the
Gull of Mexico, and is only eight hours
from the former Speaial mention is
made Of lots of sixty or seventy acres
on the hillsides favorable for fruit.
Farms Of this size, and so far, appar
emily, from the expected market, and
cultivation of this special sort, do not
fall in with the general conditions of
either English or American farming.
These settlers would have to undergo
labors and hardships for at least the
first year, such as they have not known
or even imagined in this country There
prevails in our working classes Il fixed
idea that everything in the way Of
roads, bridges, and even house accom-
mediation ought to be found for them.
Some of them will be as astonished at
the absence of all things as the London
bred schoolmistress who opens her door
a few minutes after her arrival at
country station and starts back with
horror ut the utter absence of street
lights. We none of us know the facili-
ties of civilized life, simply because we
have not known what it is to be without
them. Sidney Smith realized the des-
olation of Salisbury plain when he had
to send seven miles for a lemon or eat
his veal without it. But putting these
minor ills out of the question, how Is
man to live on sixty acres, unless under
exceptional advantages? The man who
is his own master, and has nobOdN to
90 to for wages, in bad times as well as
good. must not carry all his eggs in one
basket He must not deDend on his
grain crops, for it may be wet season;
nor on his dairy, for it may be dry
one; nor on his orchard OF on his gar
den, for Trey may fail altogether The
monev-lender will be much wanted in
this community, and, if he is protected
he will drive a good trade. But NE can
not forget that DIR. Arnold, in mis- zeal
for the simple glory of an undivided
christian land, saw nothing for it but to
lead all Hebrew gentlemen to the shore
and request them to transfer their IN
dustry to another soil There will soon
be many cases of absolute restitution
to be dealt with, and, while the more
prosperous will be apt to seek larger
spheres elsewhere, the less prosperous
will cumber the soil. Americans will
not be allowed, but invited, to share
the privileges Of the colony. They will
avail themselves of the invitation and
make their own use of it. But they
are not the barbarians that Greek and
Roman colonists managed and made
slaves of; nor are they the simple ia
tiyes the modern colonist plumbers, or
neplects. or sDOils. They are very much