Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-03-21
COLONY OF FREAKS.
Introduction of New Ideas in New
MexicO-Lawyers and Preach
ers Barred-The World
Moves.

Friendly reader of the New MEXICAN
why those bitter, burning, bedaubing
tears? The faot.'hat there are hopeless
freaks in the world 10 not sufficient
reason why we should weep and vail and
refuse to be comforted. The undeniable
and undisguisable truth is that most all of
us, at various times in our checkered
careers, have laid ourselves open to the
charge of being pronounced freaks. We
are all more or loss inclined to be such.
Human nature is freak. What other
explanation can be given for the strange
and otherwise unaccountable things that
men and women daily do?
So dry your tears, gentle reader. Worse
things might have happened than the or
ganization of the Faithist colony, LIE
vitica, about two miles from the town of
Dona Ana, on the Rio Grand river. Prob
ably the colonists are cranks, but they
manifest signs of earnestness and honesty
that extort admiration.
Levitica is a section of Shalam set
apart for the occupancy of adults who
desire to lead the Faithist life and to aid
in the support of the Children's home at
Shalam. Levitica occupies tract of
land 365 acres in extent. There are
twenty adobe houses, each situated on
one-half acre lots suitable for gardening.
These houses are 1870 feet; the rooms
are ten feet high, floors and ceilings of
Texas pine. The rooms are very pleasant
and we'll ventilated. The living room
contains zinc bath tub and pump con-
nected with a pipe we'll.
The houses are leased of the trustee
for life or whatever specified time the
lessee remains a member of the colony;
terms being that the lessee shall pay one
tenth part of his earnings or one-tenth of
all the products of the said land, and in
no event shall the rent be less than $50
value every year. There are twenty
apple trees planted on each lot. If any
one can cultivate or use more than half
an acre-it shall be given to him.
The streets are forty feet in width, with
fruit trees planted on each side. There
is pumping plant and reservoir in the
colony, covering one acre of land, with
capacity of 100000 gallons of water for
irrigating purposes, which supplies both
Shalam and Levitica.
Tho Leviticans will work on a new
theory. No one will be permitted to
have large farm. No individual will be
allowed more land than he can proftably
cultivate. No one individual will pos
sess great wealth, but all will be provided
with comfortable houses. Neither crime
nor poverty will be tolerated.
The principles of the organization may
BIZ summarized as follows: Worship of
the Creator only; vegetarian Diet and alb
stinence from narcotic and alcoholic
stimulants; lawyers, politicians and
preachers barred; no charges permitted
for marrying the living or burying the
dead; cattle allowed for milk, but can
not be sold or used for food; only one
common store for buying and selling
goods at first cost allowed in the colony;
profits to be divided according to serv-
ices rendered; objective and manual
training to be chiefly taught in the
schools; all house-hol6ers to be entitled
to vote regardless of sex; the Oldest in
habitant to be chief executive of the ma
jority and all differences to bs set
tied by arbitration.
Possibly these Leviticans are real
wicked people; possibly their experiment
in New Mexico may prove fruitful of
mischief; possibly the contrary may
prove true. The world moves. Some
people hinder, while other people would
unduly accelerate the wheels of progress.
Both classes are useful. Nothing was
created in vain. Both the lion and this
bedbug have their proper places in the
economy of nature.