New-York tribune., 1903-07-19


or' and become a memory ike so many
ps.s e-s founded on more or less similar ioeasE
orders s.sm so from the steady shrinkage of
II "ouit.rs "ouiu The Shakers themselves say
Their ~. No chance of rebuilding until the
they .,s becomes calm and gives its attention
outer W" ,5 for this miracle they hope
20 rei's aa,turv and quarter they have with
fOi .,r-nnv without measure. written and
stoo1 ven accentuated in the earlier days oy
SPOKEN - Imprisonment The more they
Vloi'- ssd the more they thrived. NOW IN
were oFF General liberation, their troubles OF
TINS 1s - are ended, and they have proved 10
oppO'-z heir many virtues, yet they are sIeao-
the "o-.1 1round Never since the DAYS OIL AIM
V iOs-. e,a .opuder. and the settlement at water
Lss N the upper Hudson has the neinDership
haep at so low an eOp'
arc to-day IN the fifteen shaker se'tle-
eight States from Maine to F1orloa
HsH'- .. eight hundred and nine hundred De-
De.~ one hundred years ago the onaAers
he'e.@ GEO twenty-five years later one
n.-,5 members had been added to their cen
fnOu'1't the end Of 1899 the entire membership
sas c,.,,ar societies numbered five thousand.
O 'u' evil War their numbers have steadily
SlH'0 only the long lives which the faith
,se kent the decrease from being more
rapid. .,..or ~ has
~ t.er The Shakers pride. not only from
-.-,1,ars but from the value Of the properly
Ns .ye5 IN common. It is still the larg-
"li'1- -..Ia-,ent but Il furnishes a striking ex-
- the numerical decline of the Shakers
-I-,t.l- 4be memory Of some Of the believers
-s-o,.oraa IN the great white houses of the
.1,o,a this community numbered six hundreo'
,yu,e-a were five prosperous families Win acres
=. ont in seed-producing crops, and factories
"a mills which were busy from early IN lhe
.no-r,ng until late at night. Now there are Iour
I,,,as yitb onlv 12O members. The women
ou+nurnber the men five TO one ana the MA
= So.t saves are old. The mills are closed, for
+--,s+s have made il impossible for the
-, n meet competition. The seed business
- obondoned. because other seed raisers appro-
80 .he name shaker" and cut prices.
r-,.sr tbe Shakers admit that they are losing
-a,,rd ayye may be running out" said an aged
ol5arass as she sat back in her comfortable
cbo,r and gazed dreamily over the green nils
,n.o the valley below Mount Lebanon where
s,., she busv prosperous world people-"we
,os, be running out, but until there is change
in the outside world we cannot hope TO bullo up
orr numbers. The decrease began with the eX-
element of the Civil War, which took our young
men away from US in swarms. Ihe cohllc'
between capital and labor which is now raging
eel. without is the disturbing influence at
nresent. Until that IS ended we do not expect
ranv people to give heed 10 our truths
THE strength Of principles is not measured by
the number Of those sustaining them adoed
sister whose literary work is doing Inuch u
,zaen alive the shark of Shakerism. we are
content to work and wait until the battle OF the
present crisis has won its laurels Of peace. when
-4sFIl ne
broader and hrmer foundations than ever be-
fore. Then. when the material wants OF the
people shall be easily supplied under vast CO.
operative systems we believe that the small,
still voice Of the Spirit viii be heard speaking
10 the souls Of the people and guiding all whom
the Father and Mother have prepared TO the
light Of the City on the Hill"
VIII these conditions come before the sect is so
reduced by the ravages Of time that there viii
be nothing left? It is a question the Shakers
are trying hard to answer hopefully. They are
not going to give up without a struggle, and
every effort is now being made to attract new
material In the fall a large and comprehensive
volume. entitled "Shakerism: Its Meaning and
Message" viii be issued, and TO st viii be given
the greatest possible circulation. In each Of the
larger settlements one family has arranged to
entertain al truth-seeking visitors. that they
may grasp The atmosphere OF the shaker nome
IN ell its peace and simplicity.
we cannot proselyte like religious denomina-
lions" explained Elderess White of the North
Family at Mount Lebanon Admission to our
order is not merely change Of creed, for creed
We have none 1t means change Of life and
soul, the life a spiritual plane, the life which
turns from the marriage Of earth to the spiritual
union of the heavenly state"
The way 10 Mount Lebanon from the railroad
ct New-Lebanon iG over q green meadow and
up steep hil, with still higher hills-moun-
iains almost-formiug the background. A Trib-
nne reporter followed It a day or two ago, and
or the way he met farmer who. after the un-
written law OF the road, stopped to talk
SO you're going 10 look over the Shakers"
ne began. Good people, Shakers. They're
petering out though mighty fast. Law me.
can remember when IT was like going to busy
Town to drive through their settlement. Now it
IS just like deserted village. They don't let
thlngs tumble down, though They wouldn't be
shakers If they did They're good neighbors
~nu square enough when it comes to dealing