The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-02
Community Experime nts.

TO De Valuable TO aOufdSt. Louis 1rlenuS
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Community Experiments.
The announcement from Pittsburg that
capitalists Of that city and of the east
have just bought the town of Economy,
short distance below Pittsburg, with the
original tract OF land upon which the
community founded by George Rapp set
calls a very interesting chapter of his
tory.
Rapp came with his people from Wur-
temburg, Germany, a century ago, and |
first settled in Butler county, Pennsyl-
vania, looking for the speedy second COM
ing of Christ. The community moved
from there and founded New Harmony,
on the Wabash river in Indiana, and sold
out to Robert Owen, the well-known
champion of community Of human inter
ests. They then went to the present To-
cation below Pittsburg, where a few of
them still reside, retaining few build
ings and little land, the residuum Of the
once large estate of the community.
This community and the Owen estab-
lishment at New Harmony were the pro-
totypes of the numerous experiments in
this country between 1880 and 1850, to
effect the reorganization Of society and
to attain the ideal state 1t was during
this period that a good many intelligent
people lost their. heads temporarily.
Brook Farm was among the communities
founded. w. E. Charming, the distin-
guished Margaret Fuller, George w. Cur
| tbs, Hawthorne and other well-known men
and women lived there in community,
| doing such servile work as was neces
sary for the farm with their own hands.
Many of the communities were founded
on the basis of Christ's idea Of human
society, as the leaders understood it, and
not a few Of them were impregnated with
1 the distinguishing ideas Of Fourierism and
| other French isns. The late Charles A.
Dana and Albert Brisbane appeared as
champions Of Fourierisnl, and even
4 Horace Greeley was somewhat fascinated
/ by the movement and Spermitted Brisbane
to use the columns Of the Tribune to ex-
plot his pet theories. Greeley pulled out
of the experimental fervor, concluding
4 that it is possible to attain success in
practical socialism, if the movement is
undertaken with firm and deep religious
basis and is free from con1munistic no.
tions, which he regarded as irrational and
calculated to prove fatal. Some of the
communities declared war on all religion
and others encouraged loose sexual re-
), Ilations, while others came together with
the genuine ambition to make purer and
better society, free from the trammels OF
sect and human bigotry:. Many of the
communities tried to live on vegetables
and fruits. -
There was something very charming in
the theory of making one large family OF
a community, but ina few years it was
demonstrated by the reformers themselves
that they could not exercise the spirit OF
fself-love and they could not get rid Of
human dishonesty; that there was uncon.
, trollable INSTRUMENTATION, everybody want
ing to talk and make the laws; that am
bilious plans failed because silly vision
aries without an atom Of business in
stinct, attempted to carry them out.
large percentage OF the members wer.
n unwilling to work and labored under thu
> ucluoIOu LHdt, udVlI6 IOuuueu lie lued
> society, they would not have to work
q The social experimentation, indeed, dem
: onstrated the fact that human natur
e cannot lproduce the ssideal state by or
(. Eganizing community with a high sound
o Ling name. Massia1o a. Az eglio the Italia
e Ipatriot, was when he said, sBefor
Il forming ITALY lllusst form the Italians.
81 The Rappite experiment in social ideal
: ism passes like hundreds of others fror
It the arena. The roaring of the cage
: flames of the furnace and the thunder {
the titanic forging hammers, the intens
= life of a great manufacturing plant wi
le soon indicate the advent of positive an
is achieving modern slife and progress owe
It, the buried hopes of impractical theorist