History of American SocialismsNoyes, John Humphrey
History
History of American Socialisms
Noyes, John Humphrey
Communism -- United States; Socialism -- United States
_A._--They left New York and Albany for the domain about the beginning
of May; and I find from a table I kept of the number of persons, with
their ages, sex and occupations, that in the following August there
were on the place twenty-eight married men, twenty-seven married
women, twenty-four single young men, six single young women, and
fifty-one children; making a total of one hundred and thirty-six
individuals. These had to be closely packed in three very indifferent
two-story frame houses. The upper story of the grist-mill was devoted
to as many as could sleep there. These arrangements very soon brought
trouble. Children with every variety of temper and habits, were
brought in close contact, without any previous training to prepare
them for it. Parents, each with his or her peculiar character and mode
of educating children, long used to very different accommodations,
were brought here and literally compelled to live like a herd of
animals. Some thought their children would be taken and cared for by
the society, as its own family; while others claimed and practiced the
right to procure for their children all the little indulgences they
had been used to. Thus jealousies and ill-feelings were created, and
in place of that self-sacrifice and zealous support of the
constitution and officers, to which they were all pledged (I have no
doubt by some in ignorance), there was a total disregard of all
discipline, and a determination in each to have the biggest share of
all things going, except hard labor, which was very unpopular with a
certain class. Aside from the above, had we been carefully selected
from families in each city, and had we been found capable of giving up
our individual preferences to accomplish the glorious object we had in
view, what had we to experiment upon? In my opinion, a barren
wilderness; not giving the slightest prospect that it would ever
generously yield a return for the great sacrifices we were making upon
it. The land was cold and sterile, apparently incapable of supporting
the stunted pines which looked like a vast collection of barbers'
poles upon its surface. I will give you one or two illustrations of
the quality of the soil: We cut and cleared four and a half acres of
what we thought might be productive soil; and after having plowed and
cross-plowed it, we sowed it with buckwheat. When the crop was drawn
into the barn and threshed, it yielded eleven and a-half bushels.
Again, we toiled hard, clearing the brush and picking up the stones
from seventeen acres of new land: we plowed it three different ways,
and then sowed and harrowed it with great care. When the product was
reaped and threshed, it did not yield more than the quantity of seed
planted. Such experiences as these made me look upon the whole
operation as a suicidal affair, blasting forever the hopes and
aspirations of the few noble spirits who tried so hard to establish in
practice, the vision they had seen for years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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