The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-05
CONTRAST in COMMUNISM
TWO EARLY INDIANA COMMUNITIES
SERVE AS ILLUSTRATIONS.
The One Founded by Rapp n Finnn-
cial success-That by owen Fall
ure-Neither system Wise.

airy gives utterance to the old and ever
fascinating idea that men should share
equally the good things of life while many
enthusiasts have devoted their life and sub
stance TO the effort to realize the idea The
history of Indiana presents several such at
tempts, and of especial interest are two OF
these experiments, one of which was a finan-
cial success and the other failure Per-
haps we may judge from a glance at these
whether communism is possible-whether
the success and the failure were accidental
| or necessary,
| The little town of New Harmony. in Posev
county. Indiana, was the scene Of both at
tempts. Hitler the Rappites repaired that
| they might carry out their religious IDEAS
ana hlther came Robert Owen cotton spin
ner and communist, hoping to start a social
revolution that should circle the globe.
In Wurtemberg, at the close of the last
century, George Rapp was the leader of a
BODY of Lutherans whose attitude toward
| the church was similar to that of the earlier
Iietists' In the emphasis they placed upon
'ne inner NE. Rapp, moreover. was an Adj
ventist Finding that their views were sub
Jecting them to petty prosecutions. Ranp
| ana several of his followers came ia tha
| United States in 1903 to find a nlacs. ~ sa.-
| tie. Ihey chose Butler county. Pennsylva
ma, where with 125 families of their fellow
"orshipers, they soon established them
serves. Then. in 1907, they added to their ec-
| cehlrlcitles the policy of celibacy having ale
ready fully adopted communism Husbands
ana wives were no longer SUCH and mar
| rlages ceased to be solemnized. Here in
Harmony, as they named the village they
| built the Rappites were prosperous Yet
they were not satisfied, because they wanted
a position on a navigabe river and land
that would raise fruit. The outcome was
! that they sold their possessions in Pennsyl-
vania for 100000 and, in 1914, moved to the
| oanks OF the Wabash, In Posey county, Indi-
ana. Here the rich bottom lands and gently
sloping hills, covered with heavy timber Of
| fered an ideal location for an agricultural
people. Thirty thousand acres of govern
ment land We're purchased. and these sturdy
| people set to work to clear the land and
| build another village. This, too, they called
| Harmony There was much in the name
| because, by harmonious labor they achieved
| notable results, they hewed timber, they
made brick, they quarried stone; finding no
limestone in the region, they gathered
| myriads of mussel Shells which they
burned to make lime. Some of the buildings
| thus erected are, to this day, among the
principal ones of the town, while consid-
| cradle number of their dwellings are still
|
| Several large buildings were used as dormi-
tories and eating houses Desiring to be as
little as possible dependent upon the rest or
the world, the Rappites built a cotton mill
| and a wooden mill, made hats and shoes-irs
| fact produced about everything that was
| needed for mere physical comfort. They
were not averse, however, to- commerce with
| outsiders, and established stores and agents
in number of the surrounding towns. Their
| goods were always of such superior quality
| that they found a ready sale. Thus by plod-
| ding industry and careful economy they
made themselves comfortable and prosper
! ous Their prosperity was, perhaps. not of
an attractive kind because, to Judge from
the accounts of travellers who visited them.
their life was humdrum one They had
plenty to eat. plenty to wear and plenty of
work to do. Rising at in the morning.
and retiring with the toll of curfew at in
the evening, they followed the ancient rule for
health. Church three times on Sunday. and
at least once during the week. besides daily
confessions in case of transgresson, secured
| their spiritual welfare. There was, more
over, some attempt to nourish the aesthetic
| sentiments especially with music, full
band being frequently used to precede the
workers in their march to the field. Besides
this, there was park, with a pavilion, APP
preached by a labyrinthine path, the whole
| typifying the rest that awaits the faithful
Withal, the impression one gets of their life
is that it was one of dreary monotony. Gov
erned by the single will of benefcent des-
pot, kept in ignorance and superstition, they
seemed. as community to have an eye
single to the main chance.
| SOLD TO OWEN
After ten years of this peaceful life in
| Indiana, the Rappites became discouraged
| by the prevalence of malaria and by the
unfriendly attitude of the neighboring back
woodsmen. Deciding. therefore, TO sell their
estate and return to Pennsylvania, they sent
| Richard Flower to England as their agent
TO find a purchaser. Robert Owen, being
then ripe for experiment. little persua-
sion was needed to bring him to America
late in 1924 to view the land a bargain
being closed with Mr.. Rapp early in the
spring of 1926. The estate thus disposed Of
by the Germans contained about 10000 acres
of land. OF this, 5000 acres were under cui-
tivation by the society, including some large
orchards and eighteen acres of fuli-bearing
| grapevines Besides these 1900 acres there
were nineteen separate farms and 900 acres
! held by tenants. The village, which was
included in the sale, contained, in addition
to the factories and public buildings men
! toned, dwelling houses sufficient to shelter
lVVJ people, the approximate number OF
members at the time of the sale Many had
Succumbed to the malaria, especially during
the first two three years. The purchase
price was about $4,000 for the real estate
and $4,000 for the personal property This
! was considered a sacrifice, but the Germans
were anxious to leave. Nevertheless, Robert
| Dale Owen eldest son OF Robert OWEN es-
! Inmates that they We're worth at that time
| 5000 per capita, ten times as much as the
per capita wealth of the United States. Hav-
/ ing made the sale, the Rappites went up the
| Ohio river in body to Pennsylvania and
! founded new village, which they called
Economy. There. at Harmony. they dwell
in contentment and prosperity many years
Their principle OF celibacy prevented natA
ural growth and their numbers gradually
decreased. Yet they remained intact as q
| society, their wealth measured by millions
until within half dozen years.
| The experience of the Rappites. tnus
briefly sketched, was, from a pecuniary
point OF view. entirely satisfactory. one
cannot, however. easily dispose OF the 4
movements of the later community First
Robert Owen, with his previous sue
cess and his pronounced views. present