The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-09-02
Psychological Meeting a
Regular Love Feast

The last psychology meeting held at
Llano Colony on August "a. was the
most interesting the writer has attend
ed during the last twenty months. There
was more general participation in the
discussion than ever before, and
reasons were explained for various ac-
tivities that seemed to be inscrutable
to some colonists. Circumstances are
decisive factors in determining intelIi-
gent co-operators as to the means
adopted in carrying on their work.
People who are not informed on con-
crete conditions and circumstances that
are met and have to be dealt with are
not qualified to pass a valid opinion
upon the Colony's activities.
Comrade Pickett had drawn chart
on the blackboard Of the Colony town
site and adjoining lands and stated the
reasons why it was so important that
the entire twenty thousand acres Of
land, contracted for, should be purchas-
ed. The Gulf Lumber Company had
treated the Colony always with the
greatest iberality, and the membership
was in honor bound, if within the limits
of possibility, to fulfill its part OF the
contract. Aside from this point of
view, it is of the greatest Importance
that this land be secured for the CO
operative movement while it can be
had at SO low price. Attic supposed
by outsiders to be practically denuded
of trees, as matter of fact, there IS
large amount of very valuable timber
anil much of new growth is coming on
that in comparatively short period
of years will be a very valuable asset.
People coming in find the Colony town
site surrounded by woods on all sides.
Because the colonists believe in UNI
limited expansion of cooperative en-
deavor, they are not on y trying to get
possession of these twenty thousand
acres, but are also reaching out in an
other direction. The rice farm is the
most valuable acquisition the Colony
has gained in long time past. and
will be made the starting point for a
second unit of integral cooperation.
Full and complete cooperation is the
aim of Llano Colony, and this is what
the Colonists aspire, to, and those who
come here should understand that and
not come here with the notion that on
their arrival the membership will set
aside its approved methods and pro-
gram and experiment with some new
tangled speculative theory. Almost
every week letters are received sug-
costing just such wasteful experiments.
If anyone has a different conception
OF cooperation from that of this COL
ony, for heavens sake try it out on
your own hook, and don't come into
Llano Colony and then get cantanker-
GUS because they won't do things your
way.
Establishing a cooperative colony
involves whole lot of hard work. You
cannot build it over night and have
everything in apple-pie order the next
morning. You may dream of dwelling
in marble halls and cooperative hea-
ven all complete with an hour or two
of work per day and an abundance
of all the good things of life. But
something else comes first. Pioneer
ing means hardship. privation and
hard work. The writer has always
found it that way in the Rockies and
in Australia. Compared to pioneering
in the Far West over forty years ago,
the pioneering here in Louisiana is an
outright picnic. But while it is dead
easy from the aspect of making start
in an entirely undeveloped wilderness
hundreds of miles from the nearest
railroad, many things have to be dis
pensed with to which the denizen Of
older-settled communities may be ac-
customed. Now, if ease and an UNI
eventful life under present conditions
of capitalism hold a greater attraction
for anyone than the opportunity of tax
ing part in building superior civiliz-
alton on the principle of reciprocity
and mutual service, by all means stay
where you are and don't become a
stumbling block to men and women Of
idealism who will dare and risk every
thing to establish their ideal.
AS DR.. ]. H. Tilden of Denver, COL,
says: ''As we are born in ignorance,
we must travel thru ignorance and en-
ror to truth. To be able to do so, there
is one thing needful, and that is an UNI
biased mind-it is necessary to keep
an open mind. And to be able to do
SO is LARGELY a matter of temperament