History of American SocialismsNoyes, John Humphrey
History
History of American Socialisms
Noyes, John Humphrey
Communism -- United States; Socialism -- United States
A second similar excursion of Socialists from Cincinnati came off on
the 4th of July following, which also Macdonald attended, and reports
as follows:
"We left Cincinnati triumphantly to the sound of martial music,
and took our journey up the river in fine spirits, the young
people dancing in the cabin as we proceeded. We arrived at the
Clermont Phalanx about one o'clock. On landing, we formed a
procession and marched to a new frame building, which was being
erected for a mill. Here an oration was delivered by a Mr.
Whitly, who, I noticed, had the Bible open before him. After
this we formed a procession again and marched to a lot of rough
tables enclosed within a line of ropes, where we stood and took
a cold collation. After this the folks enjoyed themselves with
music and dancing, and I took a walk about the place to see what
progress had been made since my last visit. The frame building
before mentioned was the only one in actual progress. A
steam-boiler had been obtained, and preparations had been made
to build other houses. A temporary house had been erected to
accommodate the families then on the domain, amounting as I was
informed, to about one hundred and twenty persons. This building
was made exactly in the manner of the cabin of a Western
steamboat; i.e., there was one long narrow room the length of
the house, and little rooms like state-rooms arranged on either
side. Each little room had one little window, like a port-hole;
and was intended to accommodate a man and his wife, or two
single men temporarily. It was at once apparent that the persons
living there were in circumstances inferior to what they had
been used to; and were enduring it well, while the enthusiastic
spirit held out. But it seldom lasts long. It is said that
people will endure these deprivations for the sake of what is
soon to come. But experience shows that the endurance is
generally brief, and that if they are able, they soon return to
the circumstances to which they have been accustomed. They
either find that their patience is insufficient for the task, or
that being in inferior circumstances, _they_ are becoming
inferior. Be the cause what it may, the result is nearly always
the same. This Association had been on the ground only a few
months; but I was told that disagreements had already commenced.
The persons brought together were strangers to each other, of
many different trades and habits, and discord was the result, as
might have been anticipated. From one of the shoemakers I
gained considerable information as to their state and
prospects. In the afternoon we returned to the city."
[From the _Phalanx_, May 3, 1845.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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