Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1906-04-06
True Disciples of Tolstoi, !
Members of English Colony in Cotswold Hills Follow
the Russian Philosopher. af4eae
Especial Correspondence

Up on the highest point of the
Cotswold hills in Worcestershire is a
little colony of practical followers OF
Count Tolstoi, people who believe that
1t is wrong to live in any way by the
labor OF others. Unable to carry their
faith into practise in the outside
world, they have settled In this re-
mote corner of England to extract
their living from an inhospitable sol!
by the labor of their own hands.
One must not suppose, however.
that this is colony of wild eyed
anarchists or dangerous enemies of
government. 1t is true that they OBJ
jected at first to paying taxes to a
government which they declared gave
them nothing in return, and one or
two men actually carried their pas
sive resistance to the extent of going
to Jail for their principles, but even
the country people round about to-
day are forced to admit that they are
good neighbors, pay their debts and
bother no one-this in spite Of the
active opposition of squire and par
son, who regard them as dangerous
enemies of church and state.
The little colony, which Is known
as Whiteway, is situated about the
center of triangle the angles of
which are formed by the towns of
Gloucester, Cirencester and Stroud.
1t Is approached by mountainous
roads and lies about seven miles from
Stroud. which is the nearest railway
station.
The land owned by the colony
stretches along the side of hill and
comprises about sixteen acres. The
tract was left to set of trustees
headed by Aylmer Maude, the well
known English disciple of Tolstoi, by.
farmer of the neighborhood who had
become convert to the theories OF
the Russian philosopher.
All Colonists Welcomed.
The land, of course, so far as its
legal aspect Is concerned, is held abb
solutely by the trustees, but any one
who is willing to work on it and live
In harmony with the colonists is well
come to settle on an acre and Guilt
yate 1t. He may do so free of all
charge, but he must not attempt to
acquire any title to it, and as soon as
he ceases to cultivate it with his own
hands all his interest in it ceases.
There are at present about a dozen
families in the colony and there are
a couple of acre plots vacant, but it
Is expected that they will soon be
taken up. They were rendered vacant
by the efforts of the persons who had
taken them up to secure absolute
ownership in them.
Apart from their peculiar views as
to ownership in land and the immo-
rality of living by the labor of others,
the colonists are perfectly normal
people. Living. as they do, an open
air life, they have adopted some re-
forms in dress, but these are not the
result of any fixed belief; rather they
are the result of an effort to find the
clothing most suitable to the condi-
tions under which they live.
The women as a rule wear an outer
garment of the flowing Grecian type,
and the men knickerbockers and soft
cotton or wool shirts. open at the
neck. In the height of summer they
sometimes dispense with the shirt
while working in the fields.
Both men and women go barefooted
partly from preference and partly be.
cause shoes are an expensive luxury
to persons living from the product of
an acre of rather unproductive soil.