Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-10-04

der this arrangement some Of the more
skilful of his Ceresco disciples were
able to score twenty-five hours labor IN
the day These "skilfnl /" toilers
were considered fortunate, as each mem
her drew stock or cash on settlement
day in proportion to his credit on the
labor record. The educational depart
ment of the community work was not
neglected at Ceresco. A good common
school was always sustained by the Pha-
lanx. and music and dancing were taught
with considerable success. Indeed,
il was remarked by travellers in that
early day that Ceresco had the most
graceful dancers and the best choir
music in Wisconsin Territory. The
phalanx were by no means destitute OF
religious influences. Seldom did Sab
bath pass without services OF some
kind. There were two preachers in the
membership, and Methodist circuit
riders made the valley stopping-pIace.
Almost all denominations were repre-
sented in the society, but all agree tina.
there was very little bigotry manifest.
Liberality was the spirit Of the hour.
For three yaars the association grew
and prospered. The name Ceresco was
made the legal name of the township,
and n post-oiiice was established there.
Members of the Phalanx held all the
township offices for several years. Mean
while, as an experiment in ASSOCIATION,
Ceresco had begun to attract widespread
notice. Horace Greeley gladly opened
the columns of his Tribune to glowing
accounts of the institution. After his
earlier experiments at Sylvsnia and in
New Jersey had ended in failure, the
cratic journalist seemed to pin his
faith in Fourierism on the success OF
CerescO. The time came when this
went the way Of all the others, and then
Greeley went back to politics, and un-
til the bitter personal campaign Of 1872
it was forgotten that the poor old man
had ever cherished such vagaries. APP
plications poured in faster than men,
bers could be admitted. A property
qualification was required. The lead
ers were determined that none Of the
idle or "goOd-for-nothing generally"
should gain an entrance to CerescO
if constant vigilance could prevent
it. The membership was about two
hundred souls, bat not one applicant in
four was admitted. The mechanical de-
partment developed more slowly than
the agricultural. owing tC the greater
scarcity OF skilled machnists in the
membership; but in the course of two
years griSt-mill and shops had been
built, in addition to the saw-mill, and
prospects were good for developing
manufacturing centre for all that part
Of the Territory.
Full reports of the condition and
prospects of the PhslanX were issued
annually. and besides these letters
from Ccresco were constantly appear
ing in the TriJmeand Hdrbiagcr (asSO-
ciatnnallst organ, so that the outside
world had no excuse for remaining IL
norant Of the cOlony's prosperity. One
regularity noticeable throughout the
history of the Wisconsin Phllanx is
this operness to the world. The So
ciety had no secrets apparently-eyery-
thing in its dealings was exposed to the
light. Careful records were kept from
the first, and these were always open
to inspection. There was small chance
for usurping official power. vt the an
nual charter elections every member
had voice. Even woman suffrage was
granted. but tie phslanx women cared
too little for the privilege to use it. At
the second Of these elections the more
conservative Benjamin Wright was
chosen to succeed Chase in the presi-
doncy. Tho cause Of this action does
not fully appear, bat the most probable
explanation is that Chase proved too
eriati, for so responsible position. lie
remained in the Phalanx, however, and
was always prominent in its affairs.
We have now traced the history OF
the Wisconsin PhaanI from its origin
to the apex Of its prosperity, as it is re-
lated by the surviving members and in
the society's records. 1t remains to
tell the story Of its decline and disso-
luton. and this will be a brief task.
Among those who remain on the ground,
we find great difference Of opinion as
to the causes Of this decline but upon
few points all are agreed. 1t was not
a financial failure-the concern paid
large dividends and accumulated hand
some property. No one lost any
thing by his connection with it, from
first to last, but all the men,
bers received ample interest on money
invested. Neither does the expert
ment seem to have failed because Of
strife and chickering's among the men,
bers. They we're harmonious peopls,
if we may believe all accounts, and
when they decided to disband they
were as thoroughly united as they ever
had been. 1t had been alleged that
Ceresco was divided upon religious and
! philosophical questions but it does not
appear that mere differences OF opinion
among the members ever produced
serious division there. The fact
is that it was not so much actual
division as a mere passive lack of union
that caused the failure of Ceresco. Not
that union did not exist in a general
way, but the members were not united
upon any one vital principle. They
would doubtless have kept up their
organization longer had they been re-
ligious fanatics-some element Of fsnat-
icism at least seems necessary in such
a movement as that at Ceresco. The
principles of Fourier were too abstract
to base such a movement on as society
was then and is now constituted. There
was no soul-no vital spark-in
Fourierism. Men would not work
long for such a cause, and soon the
cause fell by its own weight. Each of
those who had been associated in
the movement had his own philoso-
ply to account for its failure.
Some thought that the complete
intellectual and moral harmony
demanded by Fourier's system was an
impossibility without similar indi-
yidual harmony, such as has never been
attained by man. Such " harmony"
is foretold in the Book of Revelation,