History of American Socialisms Part 23

"We in western New York received an account of the views and discoveries of (the to-be-ill.u.s.trious) Fourier, through the writings of Brisbane, Greeley, G.o.dwin and the earnest lectures of T.C. Leland. Those ideas fell upon willing ears and hearts then (1843), and thousands flocked from all quarters to hear, believe, and partic.i.p.ate in the first movement.

"This excitement gathered itself into a settled purpose at a convention held in Rochester in August 1843, which was attended by several hundred delegates from the city and neighboring towns and villages. A great deal of discussion ensued as a matter of course, and some little amount of business was done. The nucleus of a society was formed, and committees for several purposes were appointed to sit in permanence, and call together future conventions for further discussions.

"I was one of the Vice Presidents of that convention, and took a decided interest in the whole movement. As there existed from the very beginning of the discussions some diversity of opinion on several points of doctrine and expediency, there arose at least four different a.s.sociations out of the const.i.tuents of said convention. Those who were most determined to follow as near the letter of Fourier as possible, were led off chiefly by Dr. Th.e.l.ler (of 'Canadian Patriot' notoriety), Thomas Pond (a Quaker), Samuel Porter of Holly, and several others of less note, including the writer hereof. They located at Clarkson, in Monroe County. The other branches established themselves at Sodus Bay in Wayne County, at Hopewell near Canandaigua in Ontario County, at North Bloomfield in Ontario County, and at Mixville in Alleghany County."

The a.s.sociations that thus radiated from Rochester, hold a place of peculiar interest in the history of the Fourier movement, from the fact that they made the first, and, we believe, the only practical attempt, to organize a _Confederation_ of a.s.sociations. The National Convention, as we have seen, recommended general Confederation; and its executive committee afterward, through Parke G.o.dwin, made suggestions in the _Phalanx_ tending in the same direction. The movement, however, came to nothing, and at the subsequent National Convention in October, was formally abandoned. But the Rochester group of a.s.sociations, attracted together by their common origin, actually formed a league, called the "American Industrial Union," and a Council of their delegates held a session of two days at the domain of the North Bloomfield a.s.sociation, commencing on the 15th of May, 1844. The _Phalanx_ has an interesting report of the doings of this Confederate Council, from which we give below a liberal extract, showing how heartily these western New Yorkers abandoned themselves to the spirit of genuine Fourierism:

FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION.

"_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the several inst.i.tutions composing this Confederacy to adopt, as far as possible, the practice of mutual exchanges between each other; and that they should immediately take such measures as will enable them to become the commercial agents of the producing cla.s.ses in the sections of the country where the a.s.sociations are respectively located.

_Cla.s.sification of Industry._

"_Resolved_, That in the opinion of the council, the first step towards organization should be an arrangement of the different branches of agricultural, mechanical and domestic work, in the cla.s.ses of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness. The exact category in which an occupation shall be placed, will be influenced more or less by local circ.u.mstances, and is, at best, somewhat conjectural. It will be indicated, however, with certainty, by observation and experience. In the meantime, the council take the liberty to express an opinion, that to the

_Cla.s.s of Necessity._

belong, among others, the following, viz.: ditching, masonry, work in woolen and cotton factories, quarrying stone, brickmaking, burning lime and coal, getting out manure, baking, washing, ironing, cooking, tanning and currier business, night-sawing and other night work, blacksmithing, care of children and the sick, care of dairy, flouring, hauling seine, casting, chopping wood, and cutting timber.

_Cla.s.s of Usefulness._

"All mechanical trades not mentioned in the cla.s.s of necessity; agriculture, school-teaching, book-keeping, time of directors while in session, other officers acting in an official capacity, engineering, surveying and mapping, store-keeping, gardening, rearing silk-worms, care of stock, horticulture, teaching music, housekeepers (not cooks), teaming.

_Cla.s.s of Attractiveness._

"Cultivation of flowers, cultivation of fruit, portrait-and landscape-painting, vine-dressing, poultry-keeping, care of bees, embellishing public grounds.

_Groups and Series._

"The Council recommend to the different a.s.sociations the following plan for the organization of groups and series, viz.:

"1. Ascertain, for example, the whole number of members who will attach themselves to, or at any time take part in, the agricultural line. From this number, organize as many groups as the business of the line will admit.

"2. We recommend the numbers 30, 24, 18, as the maximum rank of the cla.s.ses of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness.

"The series should then be numbered in the order in which they are formed, and the groups in the same manner, beginning 1, 2, 3, &c., for each series.

"Mechanical series can be organized, embracing all the different trades employed by the a.s.sociation, in the same manner; and if the groups can not be filled up at once with adults, we would recommend to the inst.i.tutions to fill them sufficiently for the purpose of organization, with apprentices.

"Each group should have a foreman, whose business it should be to keep correct accounts of time, superintend and direct the performance of work, and maintain an oversight of working-dresses, etc.

"There should be one individual elected as superintendent of the series, whose business it should be to confer with the farming committee of the board, and inform the different foremen of groups, of the work to be done, and inspect the same afterwards.

"The council is thoroughly satisfied that all the labor of an a.s.sociation should be performed by groups and series, and although the combined order can not be fully established at once, the adoption of this arrangement will avoid incoherence, and be calculated to impress on each member a sense of his personal responsibility.

_Time and Rank._

"The time, rank and occupation should be noted daily, and oftener, if a change of employment is made. The sum of the products of the daily time of each individual, as multiplied by his daily rank, should be carried to the time-ledger, weekly or monthly, to his or her credit. Each of the several amounts, whether performed in the cla.s.ses of necessity, usefulness, or attractiveness, will thus be made to bear an equal proportion to the value of the services rendered.

A.M. WATSON, President.

E.A. STILLMAN, Secretary."

The reader may be curious to see how these instructions were carried out in actual account-keeping. Fortunately the _Phalanx_ furnishes a specimen of what, we suppose, may be called, unmitigated Fourierism.

"The following tables," says a subsequent report, "exhibit the mode of keeping the account of a group at the Clarkson domain. The total number of hours that each individual has been employed during the week, is multiplied by the degree in the scale of rank, which gives an equation of rank and time of the whole group. At Clarkson, for every thousand of the quotient, each member is allowed to draw on his account for necessaries, to the value of seventy-five cents:

SERIES OF TAILORESSES--GROUP NO. I.

_Maximum Rank 25._

-----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-------- 1844 Total Hours Rank Mo. Tue. We. Thu. Fri. Sat. hours & rank.

-----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-------- 20 M. Weed, 6 10 3 -- -- 5 24 480 25 J. Peabody, 10 10 10 12 10 10 62 1550 20 S. Clark, 10 10 10 10 8 -- 48 960 25 E. Clark, 2 10 10 Sick -- -- 22 550 18 H. Lee, 6 4 10 6 4 4 34 612 15 J. Folsom, 3 3 2 6 5 3 22 330 12 Eliza Mann, 4 4 2 2 6 4 22 264 -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------

The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group, working under my direction for the past week.

JULIA PEABODY. Foreman.

Entered on the books of the a.s.sociation, by WM. SEAVER, Clerk.

_Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._

SERIES OF WORKERS IN WOOD--GROUP NO II.

_Maximum Rank 30._

-----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-------- 1844 Total Hours Rank Mo. Tue. We. Thu. Fri. Sat. hours & rank.

-----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-------- 24 Chas. Odell, 10 9 10 10 8 9 56 1344 30 John Allen, 10 10 2 6 10 8 46 1380 20 Jas. Smith, Sick -- -- -- -- 3 3 120 30 Wm. Allen, 10 12 10 10 10 10 62 1860 30 Jas. Griffith, 10 10 10 10 10 10 60 1800 -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------

The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group, working under my direction for the past week.

JAMES GRIFFITH, Foreman.

Entered on the books of the a.s.sociation, by WM. SEAVER, Clerk.

_Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._"

For the sake of keeping in view the various religious influences that entered into the Fourier movement, it is worth noting here that Edwin A. Stillman, the Secretary of the Union, was one of the early Perfectionists; intimately a.s.sociated with the writer of this history at New Haven in 1835. We judge from the frequent occurrence of his official reports in the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, that he was the working center of the socialist revival at Rochester, and of the incipient confederacy of a.s.sociations that issued therefrom. In like manner James Boyle, another New Haven Perfectionist, was a very busy writer and lecturer among the Socialists of New England in the excitements 1842-3, and was a member of the Northampton Community.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CLARKSON PHALANX.

This a.s.sociation appears to have been the first and most important of the Confederated Phalanxes. Mr. John Greig (before referred to) is its historian, whose account we here present with few alterations:

"Our a.s.sociation commenced at Clarkson on the sh.o.r.e of Lake Ontario, in the county of Monroe, about thirty miles from Rochester, in February 1844. We adopted a const.i.tution and bye-laws, but I am sorry to say that I have not a copy of them.

The reason why no copies have been preserved is, that after a year's experience in the a.s.sociative life, we all became so wise (or smart, as the phrase is), that we thought we could make much better const.i.tutions, and ceased to value the old ones.