Of course, the permanence of a commune adds much to the comfort of the women, for it encourages the men in providing many small conveniences which the migratory farmer's wife sighs for in vain. A commune is a fixture; its people build and arrange for all time; and if they have an ideal of comfort they work up to it. II.--COMMUNAL POLITICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY. Nothing surprised me more, in my investigations of the communistic societies, than to discover-- 1st. The amount and variety of business and mechanical skill which is found in every commune, no matter what is the character or intelligence of its members; and, 2d. The ease and certainty with which the brains come to the top. Of course this last is a transcendent merit in any system of government. The fundamental principle of communal life is the subordination of the individual's will to the general interest or the general will: practically, this takes the shape of unquestioning obedience by the members toward the leaders, elders, or chiefs of their society. But as the leaders take no important step without the unanimous consent of the membership; and as it is a part of the communal policy to set each member to that work which he can do best, and so far as possible to please all; and as the communist takes life easily, and does not toil as severely as the individualist--so, given a general assent to the principle of obedience, and practically little hardship occurs. The political system of the Icarians appears to me the worst, or most faulty, and that of the Shakers, Rappists, and Amana Communists the best and most successful, among all the societies. The Icarian system is as nearly as possible a pure democracy. The president, elected for a year, is simply an executive officer to do the will of the majority, which is expressed or ascertained every Saturday night, and is his rule of conduct for the following week. "The president could not sell a bushel of corn without instructions from the meeting of the people," said an Icarian to me--and thereby seemed to me to condemn the system of which he was evidently proud. At Amana, and among the Shaker communes, the "leading characters," as the Shakers quaintly call them, are selected by the highest spiritual authority, are seldom changed, and have almost, but not quite, unlimited power and authority. The limitations are that they shall so manage as to preserve harmony, and that they shall act within the general rules of the societies--shall not contract debts, for instance, or enter upon speculative or hazardous enterprises.