From the outset it was a cardinal principle with Greeley to hear all
sides, and to extend a special hospitality to new ideas. In March 1842
_The Tribune_ began to give one column daily to a discussion of the
doctrines of Charles Fourier, contributed by Albert Brisbane. Gradually
Greeley came to advocate some of these doctrines editorially. In 1846 he
had a sharp discussion upon them with a former subordinate, Henry J.
Raymond, then employed upon a rival journal. It continued through twelve
articles on each side, and was subsequently published in book form.
Greeley became personally interested in one of the Fourierite
associations, the North American Phalanx, at Red Bank, N. J.
(1843-1855), while the influence of his discussions doubtless led to or
gave encouragement to other socialistic experiments, such as that at
Brook Farm. When this was abandoned, its leader George Ripley, with one
or two other members, sought employment from Greeley upon _The Tribune_.
Greeley dissented from many of Fourier's propositions, and in later
years was careful to explain that the principle of association for the
common good of working men and the elevation of labour was the chief
feature which attracted him. Co-operation among working men he continued
to urge throughout his life. In 1850 the Fox Sisters, on his wife's
invitation, spent several weeks in his house. His attitude towards their
"rappings" and "spiritual manifestations" was one of observation and
inquiry; and in his _Recollections_ he wrote concerning these
manifestations: "That some of them are the result of juggle, collusion
or trick I am confident; that others are _not_, I decidedly believe."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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