The Washington times., 1925-02-13
RADIO IS GIVEN
Fl A|CE IN
UTOPIA
Few influences Of Modern
World Creep Into Queer
English Colony
Br HARRY e. FLORY.

BY HARRY II. FLORY.
BRISTOL, Eng. Feb. 70. Eng
lands only free-Iife, freeIove
Utopian colony has been forced to
recognise outside authority much
against the win of the majority Of
the members
It's all the fault of persistent
internal revenue agent who insisted
upon collecting tax upon the forty
odd acres Of land owned by the
colony collectively on the top or
Cotswold Hills, near here.
The simple life adhererite. seventy
IA number, believed themselves
free from interference when they
purchased the land, examined the
title deeds to sec that they were
correctly drawn ND and then burn
"a them Ut q public ceremony. ~
FAR as they were concerned the
land was free and was to remain
free from then on.
Tax Collector Hard.
The tax collector though differ
entity. he wanted money which
the colonisfs did not have. They
made their own clothing. built their
own cottages ana raised their own
food and, therefore, had no cause
to desire the medium Of exchange
utilized ~ less Fortunate beings
Colonists offered to work out the
tax, but the collector was adau1ant
ana carted away the only piano on
the hilltop The next year he
seized the potato crop and there
after tor several years the colonistA
took turns going to jan IN default
Of payment
Paid Taxes Then.
mat became tiresozne. % the
c0lonists finally decided to recogr
nize the collectors as an eyil which
could not Be- eliminated. BY organ
king q cooperative handcraftsg
society and cooperative bakery
they cOntrivod To sell enough Of
their products 10 the outside world
to secure sufficient funds to pay
the yearly taxes.
Now life II the colony once more
goes on IN almost the ordinary
way almost but not quite, Tor with
the tar collector evil they also ac-
cepted other outside world institu-
lions, such e. central heating pLans
for their houses and telephones. and
now one daring Individual has ixls
stalled 3 wireless OUTFIT. Wireless
concerts now take the place ck
homemade tertainments they
formerly enjoyed 1nateu< produc.
tions Of Ehaw plays, musical
evenings and lectures on psyche
analysis.
Customs, Not Laws Z and
Variety, Not Uniformity" are the
slogans Ok the cClonists.
Crecann Costumes Discarded.
Thus there II no chairman of the
colony and no governing board. and
the members are not compelled to.
dress alike. Some wear hCmespt1no
and sandals. while others, since the
outside world has been recognized,
wear snappy sports costumes
Grecian costumes were discarded
because they did not furnish SUIT
fiCiemt protection against the cold.
Gaspard Marin, q bearded, san
daled man possessing no more aus
fkority than any other member Of
the colony, willingly expounded
some Of the ideas Of the peculiar
group.
There are no rich and no poor
here" he said. s'I6 anyone is In
trouble everyone else helps. The
majority of people here are Yega-
tarians, but not all. Most were
opposed to war. but there were one
or two exceptions. No one went
from here to the war. Some were
imprisoned, but the authorities gave
e up, for they knew we would
rather die than shoulder guns.
Many Religious.
.sYou win find adherents to 8
score or more different religions.
Outsiders would tell you we have
many natiOnalities also. but among
ourselves there Is no distinction.
Most OF us are not interested in
politics.. though the sympathies Of
some could possibly be classified
AZ leaning toward the eDcialistic
and anarchistic schools OF thought. =