The Communistic Societies of the United States by Charles Nordhoff

C >> Charles Nordhoff >> The Communistic Societies of the United States

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

Almost without exception the communists are careful and thorough
farmers. Their barns and other farm-buildings are usually models for
convenience, labor-saving contrivances, and arrangements for the comfort
of animals. Their tillage is clean and deep; and in their orchards one
always finds the best varieties of fruits. In their houses they enjoy
all the comforts to which they are accustomed or which they desire, and
this to a greater degree than their neighbors on the same plane of life;
and, especially, they are always clean. The women of a commune have,
without exception, I think, far less burdensome lives than women of the
same class elsewhere. This comes partly because the men are more regular
in their hours and habits, and waste no time in dram-shops or other and
less harmful places of dissipation; partly, too, because all the
industries of a commune are systematized, and what Yankees call
"chores," the small duties of the household, such as preparing and
storing firewood, providing water, etc., which on our farms are often
neglected by the men, and cause the women much unnecessary hardship and
toil, are in a commune brought into the general plan of work, and
thoroughly attended to.

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.

The democracy which exists at Oneida and Wallingford is held in check by
the overshadowing conservative influence of their leader, Noyes; it
remains to be seen how it will work after his death. But it differs from
the Icarian system in this important respect, that it does give large
powers to leaders and executive officers. Moreover, the members of these
two Perfectionist communes are almost all overseers of hired laborers;
and Oneida is in reality more a large and prosperous manufacturing
corporation, with a great number of partners all actively engaged in the
work, than a commune in the common sense of the word.

At Economy the chiefs have always been appointed by the spiritual head,
and for life; and the people, as among the Shakers and Eben-Ezers,
trouble themselves but little about the management. The same is true of
Zoar and Bethel, practically, though the Baumelers elect trustees.
Aurora is still under the rule of its founder.

Aside from the religious bond, and I believe of equal strength with that
in the minds of most communists, is the fact that in a commune there is
absolute equality. The leader is only the chief servant; his food and
lodgings are no better than those of the members. At Economy, the
people, to be sure, built a larger house for Rapp, but this was when he
had become old, and when he had to entertain strangers--visitors. But
even there the garden which adjoins the house is frequented by the whole
society--is, in fact, its pleasure-ground; and the present leaders live
in the old house as simply and plainly as the humblest members in
theirs. At Zoar, Baumeler occupied a commodious dwelling, but it was
used also as a storehouse. At Aurora, Dr. Keil's house accommodates a
dozen or twenty of the older unmarried people, who live in common with
him. At Amana, the houses of the leaders are so inconspicuous and plain
that they are not distinguishable from the rest. A Shaker elder sits at
the head of the table of his family or commune, and even the highest
elder or bishop of the society has not a room to himself, and is
expected to work at some manual occupation when not employed in
spiritual duties.

In a commune no member is a servant; if any servants are kept, they are
hired from among the world's people. When the Kentucky Shakers
organized, they not only liberated their slaves, but such of them as
became Shakers were established in an independent commune or family by
their former masters. They "ceased to be servants, and became brethren
in the Lord."

Any one who has felt the oppressive burden of even the highest and
best-paid kinds of service will see that independence and equality are
great boons, for which many a man willingly sacrifices much else.

Moreover, the security against want and misfortune, the sure provision
for old age and inability, which the communal system offers--is no doubt
an inducement with a great many to whom the struggle for existence
appears difficult and beset by terrible chances.

I do not mean here to undervalue the higher motives which lead men and
women into religious communities, and which control the leaders, and no
doubt a considerable part of the membership in such communes; but not
all. For even among the most spiritual societies there are, and must be,
members controlled by lower motives, and looking mainly to sufficient
bread and butter, a regular and healthful life, easy tasks, and equality
of condition.

Finally, the communal life secures order and system--certainly at the
expense of variety and amusement; but a man or woman born with what the
Shakers would call a gift of order, finds, I imagine, a singular charm
in the precision, method, regularity, and perfect system of a communal
village. An eternal Sabbath seems to reign in a Shaker settlement, or at
Economy, or Amana. There is no hurly-burly. This systematic arrangement
of life, combined with the cleanliness which is a conspicuous feature in
every commune which I have visited, gives a decency and dignity to
humble life which in general society is too often without.

"How do you manage with the lazy people?" I asked in many places; but
there are no idlers in a commune. I conclude that men are not naturally
idle. Even the "winter Shakers"--the shiftless fellows who, as cold
weather approaches, take refuge in Shaker and other communes, professing
a desire to become members; who come at the beginning of winter, as a
Shaker elder said to me, "with empty stomachs and empty trunks, and go
off with both full as soon as the roses begin to bloom"--even these poor
creatures succumb to the systematic and orderly rules of the place, and
do their share of work without shirking, until the mild spring sun
tempts them to a freer life.

The character of the leaders in a commune is of the greatest importance.
It affects, in the most obvious manner, the development of the society
over which they rule. The "leading character" is sure to be a man of
force and ability, and he forms the habits, not only of daily life, but
even of thought, of those whom he governs--just as the father forms the
character of his children in a family, or would if he did not give his
whole life to "business."

But origin, nationality, and previous social condition are, of course,
still greater powers. Thus the German communists in the United States,
who came for the most part from the peasant class in their country,
retain their peculiar habits of life, which are often singular, and
sometimes repulsive to an American. They enjoy doubtless more abundant
food than in their old homes; but it is of the same kind, and served in
the same homely style to which they were used. Their dwellings may be
more substantial; but they see nothing disagreeable in two or three
families occupying the same house. At Icaria I saw French sabots, or
wooden shoes, standing at the doors of the houses; and at dinner the
water was poured from a vessel of tin--not, I imagine, because they
were too poor to afford a pitcher, but because this was the custom at
home.

So, too, among the American societies there are great differences. To
the outer eye one Shaker is much like another; but the New Hampshire and
Kentucky Shakers are as different from each other as the general
population of one state is from that of the other, both in intellectual
character and habits of life; and the New York Shaker differs again from
both. Climate, by the habits it compels, makes trivial but still
conspicuous differences; it is not possible that the Kentucky Shaker,
who hears the mocking-bird sing in his pines on every sunny day the
winter through, and in whose woods the blue-jay is a constant resident,
should be the same being as his brother in Maine or New Hampshire, who
sees the mercury fall to twenty degrees below zero, and stores his
winter's firewood in a house as big as an ordinary factory or as his own
meeting-house.

I was much struck with the simplicity of the book-keeping in most of the
communities, which often made it difficult for me to procure such simple
statistics as I have given in previous pages. Sometimes, as at Zoar,
Aurora, and Bethel, it was with great trouble that I could get even
approximate figures; and this not entirely because they were unwilling
to give the information, but because it was nowhere accessible in a
condensed and accurate shape. "If a man owes no money--if he pays and
receives cash--he needs to keep but few accounts," said a leading man at
Aurora to me.

In most of the communes there is no annual or other business statement
made to the members; and this plan, which at first seems to be absurdly
insecure and unbusinesslike, works well in practice. Among the Shakers,
the ministry, whenever they wish to, and usually once a year, overhaul
the accounts of the trustees. The extensive business affairs of the
Rappists have always been carried on by two leading men, without
supervision, and without loss or defalcation. At Amana it is the same,
as well as at Zoar, Bethel, and Aurora. The fixed rule of the communes,
not to run in debt, is a wholesome check on trustees; and though
defalcations have occurred in several of the Shaker communes, they
remain satisfied that their plan of account-keeping is the best.

At Oneida they have a very thorough system of book-keeping--more complete
than would be found, I suspect, in most large manufacturing
establishments; and there I received definite and accurate statistical
information with but little delay. But the Perfectionists have a more
keenly mercantile spirit than any of the other communal societies; they
are, as I said before, essentially a manufacturing corporation.

It is an important part of the commune's economies in living that it
buys its supplies at wholesale. Oddly enough, a person at Buffalo, with
whom I spoke of the Eben-Ezer people, remarked that they were disliked
in the city, because, while they sold their products there, they bought
their supplies at wholesale in New York. The retailer and middle-man
appear to have vested rights nowadays. People seem to have thought in
Buffalo that they obliged the Eben-Ezer men by buying their vegetables.
I have heard the same objection made in other states to the Shaker
societies: "They are of no use to the country, for they buy every thing
in the city at wholesale." As though they did not pay taxes, besides
setting an excellent example of virtuous and moderate living to their
neighbors.

The simplicity of dress usual among communists works also an economy not
only in means, but what is of equal importance, and might be of greater,
a saving of time and trouble and vexation of spirit to the women. I
think it a pity that all the societies have not a uniform dress; the
Shakers and Rappists have, and it is an advantage in point of neatness.
The slop-made coats and trousers worn in many societies quickly turn
shabby, and give a slouchy appearance to the men, which is disagreeable
to the eye, and must be more or less demoralizing to the wearers. The
blue jacket of the Rappist is a very suitable and comfortable working
garment; and the long coat of the Shaker always looks decent and tidy.

As to the dress of the women--in Amana, and also among the Shakers, the
intention seems to be to provide a style which shall conceal their
beauty, and make them less attractive to male eyes; and this is
successfully achieved. At Economy no such precautions are taken; the
women wear the honest dress of German peasants, with a kind of Norman
cap, and the dress is sensible, convenient, and by no means uncomely. At
Oneida the short dress, with trousers, and the clipped locks, though
convenient, are certainly ugly. Elsewhere dress is not much thought of.
But in all the societies stuffs of good quality are used; and none are
the slaves of fashion. I need not point out how much time and trouble
are saved to women by this alone.

The societies have generally as good schools as the average of the
common schools in their neighborhoods, and often better. None but the
Oneida and Wallingford Communists favor a "liberal" or extended
education; these, however, have sent a number of their young men to the
Sheffield scientific school at New Haven. The Shakers and Rappists teach
musical notation to the children; and all the communes, except of course
Icaria, give pretty careful religious instruction to the young.

But, besides the "schooling," they have all preserved the wholesome old
custom of teaching the boys a trade, and the girls to sew, cook, and
wash. "Our boys learn as much, perhaps more than the farmer's or village
boys, in our schools; and we make them also good farmers, and give them
thorough knowledge of some useful trade:" this was often said to me--and
it seemed to me a good account to give of the training of youth.

III.--CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE; INFLUENCES OF COMMUNISTIC LIFE.

I remark, in the first place, that all the successful communes are
composed of what are customarily called "common people."

You look in vain for highly educated, refined, cultivated, or elegant
men or women. They profess no exalted views of humanity or destiny; they
are not enthusiasts; they do not speak much of the Beautiful with a big
B. They are utilitarians. Some do not even like flowers; some reject
instrumental music. They build solidly, often of stone; but they care
nothing for architectural effects. Art is not known among them; mere
beauty and grace are undervalued, even despised. Amusements, too, they
do not value; only a few communes have general libraries, and even these
are of very limited extent, except perhaps the library at Oneida, which
is well supplied with new books and newspapers. The Perfectionists also
encourage musical and theatrical entertainments, and make amusement so
large a part of their lives that they have nearly half a dozen
committees to devise and superintend them.

At Amana and Economy, as well as among the Shakers, religious meetings
are the principal recreations; though the Shaker union meetings, where
the members of a family visit each other in small groups, may be called
a kind of diversion. At Economy, in the summer, the people enjoy
themselves in flower-gardens, where they gather to be entertained by the
music of a band.

2. The communists do not toil severely. Usually they rise early--among
the Shakers at half-past four in the summer, and five in winter; and in
most of the other communes before or about sunrise. They labor
industriously, but not exhaustingly, all the day; and in such ways as to
make their toil comfortable and pleasant. "Two hired workmen would do as
much as three of our people," said a Shaker to me; and at Amana they
told me that three hired men would do the work of five or even six of
their members. "We aim to make work not a pain, but a pleasure," I was
told; and I think they succeed. The workshops are usually very
comfortably arranged, thoroughly warmed and ventilated, and in this they
all display a nice care.

3. They are all very cleanly. Even in those communes, as at Aurora,
where the German peasant appears to have changed but very little most of
his habits, cleanliness is a conspicuous virtue. The Shaker neatness is
proverbial; at Economy every thing looks as though it had been cleaned
up for a Sunday examination. In the other German communes the neatness
is as conspicuous within the houses, but it does not extend to the
streets and spaces out of doors. The people do not appear to be offended
at the sight of mud in winter, and, like most of our Western farmers, do
not know what good roads are. The Perfectionists pay a little attention
to landscape-gardening, and have laid out their grounds very tastefully.

4. The communists are honest. They like thorough and good work; and
value their reputation for honesty and fair dealing. Their neighbors
always speak highly of them in this respect.

5. They are humane and charitable. In Kentucky, during the slavery
period, the Shakers always had their pick of Negroes to be hired,
because they were known to treat them well. At New Lebanon I was told
that a farm-hand was thought fortunate who was engaged by the Mount
Lebanon Shakers. At Amana and at Economy the hired people value their
situations so highly that they willingly conform to the peculiarities of
the commune, so far as it is demanded. At Oneida, where a large number
of men and women are employed in the factories, they speak very highly
of their employers, though these are the objects of prejudice on account
of their social system. So, too, the animals of a commune are always
better lodged and more carefully attended than is usual among its
neighbors.

6. The communist's life is full of devices for personal ease and
comfort. At Icaria, owing to their poverty, comfort was, until within a
year or two, out of the question--but they did what they could. Among
the other and more prosperous communes, a good deal of thought is given
to the conveniences of life. One sees very perfectly fitted laundries;
covered ways by which to pass from house to outhouses in stormy weather;
ingenious contrivances for ventilation, and against drafts, etc.

7. They all live well, according to their different tastes. Food is
abundant, and well cooked. In some Shaker communes a part of the family
eat no meat, and special provision is made for these. Fruit is every
where very abundant, and forms a large part of their diet; and this no
doubt helps to keep them healthy. They take a pride in their store-rooms
and kitchens, universally eat good bread and butter, and live much more
wholesomely than the average farmer among their neighbors.

8. They are usually healthy, though in some communes they have a habit
of doctoring themselves for fancied diseases. In almost all the Shaker
communes I found hospitals, or "nurse-shops," as they call them, but
oftenest they were empty. In the other societies I saw no such special
provision for serious or chronic diseases.

9. I have no doubt that the communists are the most long-lived of our
population. This is natural; they eat regularly and well, rise and
retire early, and do not use ardent spirits; they are entirely relieved
of the care and worry which in individual life beset every one who must
provide by the labor of hand or head for a family; they are tenderly
cared for when ill; and in old age their lives are made very easy and
pleasant. They live a great deal in the open air also. Moreover, among
the American communists, health and longevity are made objects of
special study; and the so-called health journals are read with great
interest. It results that eighty is not an uncommon age for a communist;
and in every society, except perhaps in Icaria, I saw or heard of people
over ninety, and still hale and active.

10. They are temperate in the use of wine or spirits, and drunkenness is
unknown in all the communes, although among the Germans the use of wine
and beer is universal. The American communes do not use either at all.
But at Economy or Amana or Zoar the people receive either beer or wine
daily, and especially in harvest-time, when they think these more
wholesome than water. At Economy they have very large, substantially
built wine-cellars, where some excellent wine is stored.

Is it not possible that the general moderation with which life is
pursued in a commune, the quiet, absence of exciting or worrying cares,
regularity of habit and easy work, by keeping their blood cool, decrease
the tendency to misuse alcoholic beverages? There is no doubt that in
the German communes wine and beer are used, and have been for many
years, in a way which would be thought dangerous by our temperance
people; but I have reason to believe without the occurrence of any case
of habitual intemperance. Possibly scientific advocates of temperance
may hereafter urge a more temperate and sensible pursuit of wealth and
happiness, a less eager life and greater contentment, as more conducive
to what we narrowly call "temperance" than all the total-abstinence
pledges.

11. It is a fixed principle in all the communes to keep out of debt, and
to avoid all speculative and hazardous enterprises. They are content
with small gains, and in an old-fashioned way study rather to moderate
their outlays than to increase their profits. Naturally--as they own in
common--they are not in haste to be rich. Those of them who have
suffered from debt feel it to be both a danger and a curse. None of the
communes make the acquisition of wealth a leading object of life. They
have greater regard to independence and comfort. Their surplus capital
they invest in land or in the best securities, such as United States
bonds.

12. In those communes where the family relation is upheld, as the people
are prosperous, they marry young. At Amana they do not permit the young
men to marry before they reach the age of twenty-four.

In the celibate societies a number of precautions are used to keep the
sexes apart. Among the Shakers, especially, there are usually separate
doors and stairways in the dwelling-houses; the workshops of the sexes
are in different buildings; they eat at separate tables; and in their
meetings men and women are ranged on opposite sides of the hall.
Moreover, no one is lodged alone, even the elders and ministry sharing
the sleeping-room with some other brother. It is not even permitted that
a man and woman shall stand and talk together on the public walk. In
most of their schools the sexes are also separated. In some of their
dwellings, where but a single staircase exists, there is a rule that two
persons of opposite sexes shall not pass each other on the stairs. They
are not allowed to keep pet animals; nor to enter the room of another
sex without knocking and receiving permission; nor to visit, except by
appointment of the elders or ministry; nor to make presents to each
other; nor to visit the shops of the other sex alone. At Economy there
are separate entrance-ways to the dwellings for the two sexes.

It is not pretended in the celibate communes that the celibate life is
easy; they confess it to be a sacrifice; but as they are moved to it by
their religious faith, they rigorously maintain their rule. I am
satisfied that very few cases of sexual irregularity have occurred among
them, and they rigorously expel all those who transgress their rules.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31