Bisbee daily review., 1907-11-03

| the weakest VIII be enriched and
strengthened by the service OF the
strong. while the strong shall yet
profit commensuTately with his own
! endeavor: TO incorporate in a prac-
| teal work-a-ylay manner the best
practical ideas OF cooperation, of
brotherhood. Of equality of the sexes,
and of freedom from a too complex
system of competition; to make the
wilderness blossom as the rose, and
the desert TO flow with milk and hon
ey. Such is the project OF the La
Prosperidad Colony Association,
which has just secured q concession
fTcm the Mexican government of &c.,
| 600 acres OF land N Lower California.
'On this vast tract stretching from
! the sea TO the mountains, and shut in
| on the north ard south by minor
ranges Of mountains, il is proposed
| to establish the first purely co-opera-
tive community ever projected in
America. The plan has been care
| fully worked out. and sla)arIte i! e.
cautions taken that no inherent
| weakness in the organization shall
| work its destruction. Thus, the first
| law Of the colony is that no indiyid-
ual shall hold more than twenty
acres Of land, or shall cast mor-
than one vote. Again. it is specif-
cally provided that no shareholder in
| the community shall sell, bequcath
| or devise any part of his land. save
| b. the authority AID approval of thu
! Beard Of Trustees. and the price of
the sale shall be the appraisement
value fixed by the community. These
| provisions. intended to discourage
| land spectators and capitalists. have
| been pronounced by economists who
have studied the plan to be entirely
practical and adequate.
The association has been organized,
| 100 charter members enrolled. the
plan perfected and the land secured.
| Within the next few months lectuT-
ers win be traversing the United
| States from end to end exploiting the
| scheme and inviting membership. BY
| the first of the new year it IS ex-
pected the first shipload OF coIonists
will depart from the port of San
! Diego for the new land, where the
| latest and most practical thought
along the lines of cooperative living
and doing shall have its first real
| test.
La Prosperidad Colony Assccia-
| ton is the product of the brain of
| Byron Hall. of Los Angeles, a man
| in when are unusually blended the
! creative, imaginative faculty and the
| practical. hard common sense to Wit
alize and materialize his dreams. In
| celebrating ard perfecting his plan he
| has been ably assisted by his enthus-
iastic wife. Anna Vale Hall. A mid
dle-sized. baid-p!ated man. with
shrewd gray eyes and a finely humoT-
Gus mouth. Byron Hall presents few
| of the external evidences Of the
dreamer. His business associates
know him IS a hard-headed man OF
/ business. shTewd keen, obseTvant and
! cautious. 4 practical miner and
! farmer. a traveller. a man OF affairs, 2
mans kind Ct a man is Mr.. Hall. He
/ speaks quietly AMI earnestly, bur
| with no show Of fanaticism. When
/ discussing his iGea-La Prcsperidaa
Ibis voice never rises above the con
yersaticnal pitch. and he lays down
! he principles and ideals upon which
AS cooperative colony schemes arc
razci in so matter-fGct-fact and 5usi'
+ EeSeIKe manner TnaU inc HSIeGe-
I must ucGds eaten hituseif now aEd
tthen to realize that this man is dis
| cussing not the simplest aud conf
monest Of business eutaTDrisss. but
the practical matsrisliZat'ol< Of the
| dreams which philosophers and phil
| anthropigts since the DAYS CT jain
! Locke have dreamed Of, and dreaming
have died and left but "unsIbstaHtial
/ fabric" still.
And yet. business man aad pTacti'
cal man that he is. with bis shTewd
eyes and his twitching, humorous,
| crooked nlouth. Byron Hail possesses
| Imagination in the highest degree,
His Utopia-he doesn't call IL such
but the world willis bern Of an i'm
| sgination which leaps Ger sea aud
mountain, sees the desert blooming,
the wilderness peopled, and the vast
and dreaTy stretches of an arid No
Mans Land glowing and singing with
the prosperity and happiness CT
People ransomed from Industrial and
economic oppression La Prospect
1 dad eoufd have been created by nc
man without lively and plenteous
/ Imagination. no more than IL could
have reached its present state OF
PRACTICAL development in the hands
Of any man without a substantial de
gree OF working balanced common
sense.
In an interview with Mr.. Hall the
plans and hopes OF the cooperative
colony were succinotly and conpre
hensively set forth. Cooperation,
said Mr.. Hall. Is, In its best devet
ioDment, a system which shows people
4 how to help themselves while help
ing others No return is Of perma
nent value which does not enable mel
4 and women TO help themselves and &c
/ free themselves.
"A tree grows from within out
! from the little seed to trunk an
branches. from inward expansion
not outward acretion. Legislation
Il voices ths average development Of q
4 people. never its advanced idea
The progressive form must be first
thought out. put into tangible shape
I vivtfied by the desire Of the majority
i il must became an actual fact tested
By experience a practical sometime
which can ~ seen and felt: then i
puts some Of its experiences INTO law
..Co-operators should not be agita
tors: they should learn 20 act calmly
rqtionaliy; tc put every question e
the test OF experiment: so the
their Opinions, when expressed. shsl
: carr weight. Threuehout the wori
today are people DESTROYS OF laTgel
opportunities.
"Thev arc people who arc re'nl
! crushed between ronafcts1g forces
and CT this fact they are growing
|. more conscious until they are cage
for anything that promises amelicra
ton Of their lot In life.