The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-31

portance that was going on at that time. es
pecially In Boston. and that was what was known
a. the uprising Of the transcendenta school. II
was . school o. philosophy. IL grew MP in op
position 70 the philosophy which taught tina,
there was nothing In the intellect that had moi
before been In the senses. The ransocndental
istsmsintained the doctrine Of the originslintui
lions Of the mind. and that the sorl GEM
munes with regions that lie beyond the
senses. and has limitations OF divine truth
that the senses cannot ssveal. Their school
was very active. There were men In .,
OF great Importance. men whose names re-
main 10 literature. There was Mr.. Emerson, per-
hAps the nrst man. In his famous discourse on
Nature. 70 declare aggressively in this country
the doctrine Of this trsnscendental school. Mr..
George Ripley. . Unitarian minister In Boston.
was another advocate OF II. He Was . man of
high education. immense knowledge. and of
ability and courage equal to any mans. In
this party Of transcendental philosophers the
idea early arose-it was first stated by Mr..
George Bancroft. the historian. who sympA-
thized thoroughly with tho transcendentalists-
that democracy. while It existed In the Constitu-
tion Of the United States. white II had triumphcd
as . political party under Jefferson. aud
while II was then in possession of q majority OF
the governments Of the States, and at times OF
the Government Of the United States, was not
enough. That was not the perfect realization
Of democracy. II democracy was the sublime
truth which II was held to be. IL should be
raised up from tho sphere VI politics, from
the sphere Of law and constitutions; IL should
DO raised MP into lifo and be made social.
Tho principle of equality. which allowed every
mans vote to DO as good as that Of every other
man, should be extended so that in society and
In social life the same principle OF equal
i.y should be applied throughout. One Of
tho things that these democratic philos-
ophers particularly objected to was that
while the master sat In tho parlor upstairs. the
servant sat In the kitchen downstairs. They
ought to be on the same level: equality and
democracy should characterize our social rela-
tions. Every p~erson-this was their teaching
should have an opportunity OF education. 80
that all his faculties could be cultivated and
developed. and all the avenues of knowledge
should be opened to every one who desired to
enter. That could only be accomplished By tho
reform of society; and this reform Of society
these people. after long study and much discus
sion. determined II was their duty to realize. And
that was " hat inspired thesocisiistic movement.
which began about 1896 or 1898. II was not a.
you will observe. akin In the least to the theory
Of which Karl Marx Is perhaps tho most celo-
DRAFTED advocate. the government socialism. In
which the Government owns all land and
machinery. all means of manufacture. oil the
shops OF industry. and the people arc its
employees and s~ubjects. On the contrary. the
socialism Of that day contemplated merely a sys-
tenn of associated living. Of combined house
holds, with Joint stock ownership of tho
Joint property; every stakeholder to get
his share In the PROFITS. which he had helped
to earn. and the share earned by tho capital
he had invested. The idea of Government
monopoly In ownership was most repugnant
to the tbeorists We are speaking OF. In
dividuality and liberty were their cher
ished objects. and all forms OF communism
they zealously repudiated. Nor did the So
cialism We are considering start from the
uneducated or the poor. Its adhcrents were all
people WHIT had gathered IN the fruit Of the
highest education. the fullest knowledge. the
highest refinement that was known TO Amerl-
can society In those times They were scholars.
thinkers, clsrgymen. philosophers, men and
women Of eminence in literature and So
ciety: and when some of them began TO
discuss the problem Of revolutionizing So
cial life, OF placing IL upon . democratic
platform, and OF giving each man an equal
chance with every other man. their movement
naturally drew o great deal of attention. II was
Joked about in the newspapers. The newspapers
were great In joking then. as they have been
since. They laughed at 1t and they prophesled
that as every such undertaking Of which they
had q record had failed before. this would also
fail and go out as . passing cloud. as a fancy
that had no 8 substantial reality behind It.
The idea Of founding q society OF associated
families. was strengthened considerably by
the experience of tho Shakers. and this
argument was constantly brought forward
In the meetings Of those engaged In study
ing the subject The Shakers were then
Of much moro Importance than they arc
now. / believe thsre were more societies Of
them. and they had the reputation Of being
rich a. well as successful. They were all
democratic In . certain sense. Every person
had the same opportunity. They had to obey q
kind Of ecclesiastical authority, and they lived
In cellbAcy; but so far as tho ordinary social
relations were concerned. tho Shakers were
entirely democratic.
Then. there began to be published at about
this time the writings OF an ardent en-
thusiast an American from western New York
named Albert Brisbane. He had lived several
ysars In Europe. especially In Paris. and there
he had got acquainted with q man who was un-
doubtodly one Of the greatest theorists upon the
subject of social instit utions and social progress
that has ever appeared-Charlss Fourier. His
system 10 accomplished. but very remarkable and
Interesting, and well worth studying merely
as . subject Of intellectual scrutiny. Brisbane
published several books In favor Of Association.
Industrial Association, Agricultural Associa-
ton, Cooperative Association. or. as he called
IT,. the combiDsd order Of society. as
distinguished from the order of separate
households. each family living by itself. His
arguments were very striking. In the first
place. there was tho economy Of the now sys-
tenn. You could lodge. feed and olothe q thou
sand people In one great combined household.
much more cheaply than when each family had
its own separate dwelling. Each family would
have Its own apartments, and his idea In some
respects suggested such great apartment
houses as We now have in some OF our large
oitiss. whore one hundred families may live
under one roof. and yet have an independent
style Of life. His views were greatly strength
ened in their influence by tho adhesion of Mr..
Horace Greeley of the Nep York Tribune. then
lately established. Mr.. Greeley embraced
the associative doctrine very early and
with great enthusiasm and zeal. He saw
the economical advantages; he saw that
. thousand people might live together and save
money In q combined household. even when
none Of them might have enough TO live on sep