The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-05-06
EACH ONE FOB ALL.
SUCCESS OF AN INTERESTING COL.
oNY or SOCIALISTS.

labor Problem soived-No Matter What
Al, worh. Each Msmbsr Receives the
Sam. wages. Their Chief Dusinsss 10
" Publishing . sooiaiistie Paper.
There is in Ruskin, Tenn, q thriving
community Of some two hundred souls.
II Is a successful socialistic colony,
and probably the most interesting on
the continent. Its people are persons
Of high ideals. who seek to carry out
An actual life the dseams Of their phil
oophy. They could be more prosper
ous. They are happy and contented.
Every member Of this association
shall surrender his natural freedom
which leads him TO disregard the rights
of others, for the sake Of civil or social
freedom which, being based upon the
principles Of right and justice, has re.
gard for his rights and the rights of
all"
That is the corner stone Of the com.
munity. Each member is an equal
stockholder In the association, and all
share exactly alike. Every member
is guaranteed employment by all. A
days labor is fixed at nine hours.
Every member receives exactly the
same compensation Tor his work, no
matter what II IL; II sick his pay goes
on just the same.
There Is no Interference with indl.
vidual tastes or private, religious or
domestic affairs. The association
Ill tI,a In, a,,d NJ
ducton and distribution. and owns all
buildings, but each member owns his
own household furniture and clothing.
Members have separate houses, but
there IL a common kitchen and dining
hall Some OF the best laundry ma
chinery has been put in. Schooling,
medicine and medical attendance are
furnished free, and there is n good
school and kindergarten going, with
twenty-five or thirty children.
The people In this little ideal world
are nearly all Americans. There are
n few Germans. They come from all
pver the Union, but there are few II any
from the South. Ohio and Pennsylva-
mia furnish the largest quota. Very
few come from farms. and those who
do have lived at least for few years
in cities. so that it can be said to be
wholly city community.
There Is no church or minister In
the place. and no official religious ser.
vices. If any one wished to start re-
ligiOus services there would be no OBJ
lection, but l doubt II II would be pos
sible to get them officially recognized
by the association. Some Of the mem
bers are pronounced free thinkers. AL
most all Of them are bitter against
church organizations as not doing thell
duty. but all of them admire Jesus
Christ and many are deeply religious
The animatlng spirit Of the colony II
distnctively altrulstic.
Imagine n community without police
There are no officials save that one
member Is a notary public and another
postmaster. There is no immortality
no thleving. no drunkenness The,
do not keep or sell liquors.
The principal business Of the com
munity is the publishing Of n socialis
tic weekly paper. This paper accept
no advertisements and prints no news
but II has an outside circulation of 80,
900 copies, and on one occasion sol'
an edition Of 100000. They also pub
iish a telegraphers' journal that has
considerable circulation, and isSu
yearly number of books, chiefly ol
sociahstic topics. The authors and ed
ltors are all members of the commu
nifty. and receive for their literary Ia
Dor precisely the same wages as wood
choppers and farmers and stablemer
New York Herald.