The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-03-15
DEATH OF A GREAT NAN.

DEA TH OF A GREAT NAN.
The death Of NJ. Qodin, of Guise,
France. passes almost unnoticed by the |
newspaper press. But he was
! greater man than the President Of
France or Of the United States. and
will be remembered and honored when
most of the statesmen and warriors are
forgotten or mentioned as routine
men.
NJ. Godin Was the founder, the
builder and the upholder of the Social
Palace, at Guiee, where 1900 working
meii are employed, and where large
share Of them participate in the pro-
fits of the manufactOry and in fact
own an interest in it. Here hum
drads of workingmen live in a palace,
while their children play upon lawns
with fountains and statuary, like the
children Of princes. A. social dream
was realized. materialized, actualized.
A theory was put to practice and sue
cessfully maintained for twenty years.
How much, of the co operation and pro-
d. sharing of today glew out Of NJ.
Godin's experiment, we cannot say,
but we judge that most Of it is tracea-
ble to his Social Palace and Familis.
there at Guise. What Godin has done,
every wealthy man in the world should
do. Vanderbilt, Gould. and other mil
lionai, es, should each found from one
to \ score Of these Cooperative Pal
aces. There should be one in every
community, and ultimately there
should be 10 others.
This is what it will come to. Godin's
dream will be generally realized, and
the Labor problems will he solved. The
tendency now is to the following order,
(r) pr"ht.s''arinR; icy co.operation; (3)
communism. The ultimate will he
that mankind will cryst"lize into Bro
therhoods. social organic unities,
Kingdoms of Heaven, and finally real
ize their hopes of a happy and peaceful
life.
1t was apparently a Providence that
from Guise. once the home of the
naughty Dukes of Guise, should 20
forth the idea OF the Peoples Palace.
and that upon that ~ristocratic ground
should be realized the Workingman' s
ideal, the equality of Capital and
Labor.
The Devoir. speaking of M. Godin =
funeral. says:
At his last Ol,sequies, representatives
of public power, Legislative power, pre-
fects, deputies, journalists, without
any distinction of party or prejudice,
come to pay homage to the grandeur
Of his work, the elevation Of his doc
trines, the justice of his theories, the
benefits of his propaganda, spread over
tie world. What better testimony
that the scattering of the ideas so pro
fusely sOwn by this rich intelligence
nave not been lost, but have already
been made fruitful iu hearts and con.
sciences.
.C:sLEBRA TING UNDER DIFFICULTIEs
In the March number of the Century
is another of Geo. kennon's excellent
articles on Russian State Prisoners. 1t
makes ones blood boil to read Of over
thousand men and women imprisoned
from six months to three years Tin rig
orous solitary confinement" on bare
suspicion of being 4 revolutionist. 1t
makes one wish there were millions of
Nih,lists in Russia, and that they were
as strong as the E:'zlishmen who
brought King Charles to the block.
Mr.. Kennon says that the contlne-
ment of All innocent man in such a
prison and his final release ''without
reparation or apology, aud perhaps
without even the formality of Il judi.
cial hearing, constitute extreme provo
catiOn.'
But did it ever occur to Mr.. Kennon
that there are wrongs under our sys.
tenn nearly i: not quite as graf, and
which gives the anarchists good cause
and an excuse for revolution. The
man who is jailed for months among
insane persons and criminals on some
charge and then acquitted. is sent out
without any preparation or apology
He has lost his time, his health and
his spirits, and his family meanwhile
has suffered shame if not actual want.
Not long ago it was developed that q
young girl had been detained as a wit
ness in an important case in Chicago.
She was detained" in jail among mur.
derers, thieves, insane persons, etc.
This was enough to ruin her health
and even to make her q criminal fol
life. But the state made no ''repara
tion or apology"
But what we set out to mention was
the celebration of the Centennial
Fourth of July by the State prisoners
in the Russian bastile. For weeks the
prisoners had been preparing for the
event. They had requested friends who
visited them to send handkerchiefs.
shirts, etc., of red, white and blue. and
they had also in some olandestine man,
ner obtained bits of candle. When the
morning Of July 4th, 1875, broke, near.
ly every State prisoner had flag OF
red, white and blue improvised, and
hundreds Of such flags and streamers
fluttered from the grated windows OF
the prison. while the inmates SANG
American songs and greeted each othe,
through the water-closet pipes, tue
only means they had of communicat'
ing. These demonstrations were OF