The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-02-21

tive eXepT1menCS, now eacn QeFel"
oped about a religious leader with
q social program. The following
articles will describe those without
a religious base and Of definite
economic origin. With the develop
ment Of steam as q motive power
and the invention Of the spinning
jenny, and the application Of the
use Of power in manufacture and
the use Of the steel plow, and
horse hoes, displaced hand tools
in agriculture, thousands Of peO-
pie lost their jobs just as today
when the tractors have displaced
horse power and the farm units
must be enlarged; So the horse
power machines forced the en-
largement Of the farm units then.
This today has driven thousands
from the farms just as thousands
were driven at that time. Leaders
with radical programs sprang up
everywhere then just the same as
today. AS these experiments were
failures financially it is enough to
give a biographical sketch Of the
leaders and their programs.
Robert Owen was born in New
town, Wales, a part Of England, on
the 18th Of May, 1911. His father
was a saddler and ironmanger. His
schooling was very limited as he
left school at the age Of nine to
be apprenticed to a drapeTyman
and worked in the shop several
years when he left home to go to
Manchester, England, a center Of
textile manufacturing and at the
age Of 10 was made manager Of q
cotton mill which employed 500
people. He greatly improved the
machinery and the quality Of the
spun cotton. He used the first sea
island cotton imported from Am
erica. He soon became q partner
and falling in love with the daugh-
ter Of the owner Of mills at New
Lanark, he persuaded his partners
to buy these mills of which he be-
came manager. mention this as
this was the center Of Owens ex-
periments in better housing for
worlmen, better education for
their children.
The working conditions Of fac
tory workers were very severe
long hours, low wages and unsan-
itary conditions were usual and
coupled with this was the vicious
child labor. Children from poor
houses were farmed out to factory
owners and they were in fact
slaves. Mere babes worked at the
looms and received the most bru-
tai treatment. The conditions in
the sweat shop textile factories
are about the same today here in
America. It was in this field that
Owen sought to ameliorate the
conditions Of the working people
by providing sanitary workshops,
shorter hours Of labor, better
housing and better schools.
| New Larnark had been estab-
lished by David Dale Owens
tather-in-law) and Arkwright, the
inventor Of the spinning jenny
and was run by WaterpoWer. The
factory employed about 1000 PEG.
pie, 800 Of whom were children
Most Of the latter were from the
poorhouses Of Edinburgh and
Glasgow and were only S or
years Of age. The working condi.
tlons were bad, the shops and
houses unsanitary and the work
ing people were forced to submit
to demoralizing drudgery. Under
these conditions is it any wonder
there were theft, drunkenness
prostitution? This was the field
as Owen found it, and he set e
work to provide better houses
more sanitary conditions in rh,
nome and factory. He established
in1ant schools. REHABILITATION
bewteen himself and his partner,
80 that he was forced to breal
with them and to organize a com
pany Of persons sympathetic viii
NM New Lanark soon became ,
place Of pilgrimage to ali VIII,
mad advanced ideas in education
or workers welfare.
This experiment, and the econ
omic conditions existing at "a,
close Of the Napoleonic War
(l8l5) which caused q genera
stagnation Of trade and Genera
misery among the workers. caus
ca nm to conclude that the caus,
OF this misery was the conneti
ZION OF human labor with the ma
Snlne and the remedy to be :, III,