Text
unless
to read
several
er our
nty-five
d Fritz
:?
ys they
at corment in
s great
: public
s probt which
,s there
ground
ther, to
J shape
s being
ke bold
nay be,
in the
v York
r, New
1g in a
~rnoons
ton has
,prings,
r much
ngs tov's life.
because
ineered
here to
already
tve for
d, trueics and
leained
1ve
en-
nge of
far as
nter of
h more
·t their
Iler the
~eous)y
y prosinstitutively),
est and
wledge,
irnulate
y town
,uld be
ng and
should
1cthi11g
11A
necessary to I
But I clear!y, recognize that while this may be' my ideal for such
a meeting,,others _will work out quite' different conceptions. It mat• , with it altoge:
·ters little how it• is done so long as •you succeed in getting together
But we do:
keenest joy,
fair representations of all those who have good will and who want
to do something to· make it count.
·
· siste.rs of the
to high thinki
Wid~ly· Varying View11 No 'Bar to Profitable Discussio~
fellowship of 1
There is another very helpful way in which. this interest in the
[ would ~athe1
com'mon life may be nurtured and promoted. I. have found from
evening churc
.,
·six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group of guests at
evening d11rin1
;r--,---'------'--...i.kl-....J~.._.,.. m,u..-hama.ui_LS11aamore.Beach each season that it fa_possi~Je.-Jc;H9wship wit
· i, and J
'in h,
s pr
retht
is ti
)re
·e fa
of ei
1g 5(
la of
Vol. r. No. 12.
lVI_arch r6, 1913.
Price Ten Cents
bree<
by a
SELF-MEASUREMENT.
of natural laws In process of time just
-:unat,
the same as the powers of the body
ding
The most difficult thing In the world 'are developed-only they travel farther.
!d al'
It ls a pity to fall short of the full
is to get an accurate measure of yourgrou:
self,-your own strength and capacity stature of one's manhood. And it is
or al
pathetic to be forever reaching out for
and sincerity. The easiest thing is to
the shining moon. It is the part of
1{ Olli
deceive yourself,
er fa<
Nothing ls more necessary, If you common sense to get a good measure
of yourself.
would accomplish the thing for which
other
you were made, than to get that selfl give
same accurate measure of yourself.
nook
And nothing Is more dangerous than
comn
the habit of deceiving yourself.
e inte
Some fail because they take too
NEXT SUNDAY'S SPEAKER,
e not
large a measure of theinselves and cannot live up to their own expectations.
ent fc
Rev. Nicholas Van der Py! of HavBut the great majority, I think, in erhill who, more than any other single
privat,
spite of the seeming ·prevalence of self- incliviclllal, contributed to sane and
st all
concelt, take too small a measure of sountl public opinion at the time of the
themselves, which Is none the less fa- Lawrence strike, addresses us next
tal, though It does not advertise its Sunday, his subject being "Lessons
failure quite so conspicuously,
from Recent Industrial Outbreaks."
'I'he truth of the matter is, you must Mr. Van der Py! is a keen and syml'etak~ your measure frequently and pathetic student of every form of peoIn many different ways; for you are a ple's movement and came to know Etllvlng, growing thing, and your pow- tor and Giovanetti well during those
ers are either waxing or waning all months when they languished in jail.
the time according to the way In He can tell us much of value, therewhich you are using, them,
fore, about their cause and similar
Leam to measure your own spirit causes in other communities.
from the analogies of your own body.
Your physical measurements will tell Rey, Hen'ry C. Vedder, D.D.,
Crozer Theological Seminary,
YQll at the very start whether you can
Chester, Pennsylvania.
excel as a sprinter or a wrestler or
"The Ford Hall meetings are a
whether you may be just an average
man at either. But on,Jy daily experi- unique Institution. There have been
ence and careful training and testing attempts to establish similar meetwill give you the measure of how far ings In other cities, some of which
yoii can go In the direction of your have been. moderately successful for
a time, but none have rivalled, not
special bent.
Llkewlse ln the things that are un- to say equalled, Ford Hall. This is
seen a careful measurement of your because there is but one George W.
evident capacities and powers will Coleman. The combination of qualishow at once your special gifts, your ties demanded for tlrn successful conobvious lacks, or your average all- duct of Stich meetings, year after
ronnd qualities. Then daily practice, year, is not common in a single perwith careful and sincere watching, sonality, \Viele knowledge of men, as
well as thorough knowledge of huwlIJ tell you the rest,
But this difference must be bome man nature, unflagging enthusiasm
tempered by hard sense, much
In mind: there are ,limits beyond ence In handling all sorts and expericondiwhich we know thE) body cannot go
tions of men, a gift of humor and unbut the capacities of the mind and failing patience, perfect courtesy and
soul seem almost infinite.
a firm wlll,-all these In just the
And just there lies the danger of our right proportions, joined to an unplaying the fool with ourselves, Be- feigned love of God and man, go to
cause these !)Owers seem limitless It make up the conductor of such an
does not follow that they work ' by enterprise.
Vi7hat wonder men of
nrn 91c. They ex'111nid by the operation tlrn t type 11re rare!"
·
jforb
Mau jfolhs
Ir~&~
t••~•-•:o-J7--r 0~0w,,-i.1.., , .. •·z-·---·-11/ltllre than meets together elsewhei·e ht'tTI(; 'N~{ft'ttii'g1attd 11leirofolli,!$·1A!l&J;W~
A11d as here,· clearly·
11d which leads a11d l'l?al/y, governs those, gatherings.
• co11ceives bpj
's II as rnlminatill iii J,11111a, solidarity .
~
:tll all
,tatemen
the dee
111ust flf
2
1
so and
rn Chris
Are a
commo:
1itin~ :lo
1e worlc
·gration,
Inadeq
111ents h
ife. Th
, free pl
,s, with
ch have
,·ments <
si:
FORB HALL FOLKS
ns are ;
\rnerica
,geneom
many c'
11s all tc
onger b
cstructi<
tution a
,n<l less'
a wide
·thing a
ire eith(
111111011 r
<lo not
widely
sts, Chr
rats, ·Pr,
or bitte
ed unde
is com
The ri
t reets ar
h each·
1turally,
co
I will find that these
will be marked 1111 ns
cesses In all our llv
this purpose of hopef
and good cheer that l
tonight with this st01
I have for 20 year:
terested In this ma1
my colleague. He cllec
dent and I went dow
er's ex]leriment had
gather material for a r
a week there amo111s
that old colony. I th
was left In the way ,
man relationship. S1
old book store In L01
the first pages of th i
raphy and I learnec
his first experiments
saw what was left
seen his clescendantf
where I get the sam
same justification fo1
Now, In order Urn
stand, let me give y,
where the great exp,
In Posey County, 1111
Owen in 1824 cam
nowhere, He tells m
for days through, tlH
ness, guided only b,
suddenly came to
forests dlsa])J)eared ,
before him a magni
says there were
everywhere, fruit ,
wheat, and, In the
siderable town, As
this open plain he c
!age with houses bu
brick. 1:n the mlclst
Two large warehous,
storing grain for t.
the Indians. A mil
timber, another mill
and as handsome a11
have found anywhen
after a meal he wen
of the town where 1
wheat field two mil
grown people of th,
work cutting the w
and laying the grain
the sun went down
people turned and c:
town. The leader ,,
them-and the churc
He lead them into
mounted the platfor 1
pews. He addresse,
good cheer and e1
hope for the morr,
missed them to th,
was dee])ly impresse,
characters and goocl
0
EDWIN D, i\llilAD,
Edwin D, Mead,
The World Peace Foundation, ·
Boston.
"The Ford Hall movement has lived
with increasing vitality and power for
five years, and will go on Jiving, be•
cause it was a movement which was
needed here in Boston, and similar
1r.ovements are needed In every American city, because it has been Informed and inspired from the beginning trntil now with the right spirit
and because It has been conducted
with great abl!ity and common sense.
It has taught the churches lessons and
it has brought home to the whole pub•
lic the necessity of bringing the real
r(Jigious sentiment and Ideal to bear
directly upon the really vital and
pressing Issues of here. and now,"
Rev. Woodman Bradbury, D. D.,
Old Cambridge Baptist Church.
"In five short yearf\ the movement
has overcome opposition, dissipated
doubt, established its rai.son d'etre,
proved its usefulness, stimulated slm•
liar meetings in other centres, and
sent out a great light from the
ancient beacon on the hill. In short,
it has grown from an experiment to
an Institution,"
l'JtOF llAll~ES,
I
ROBERT OWEN: A SUCCESSFUL
FAILURE,
(Address of Prof. Earl Barnes of Phi ladelphla at the Ford Hall Meeting, March 9, 1913,
.
Mr. Ch'alrman and fellow students:
I am here tonight to tell you a story of
a man's life, He was a man who
started with nothing.
He quickly
achieved success. At 28 he was among
the foremost manufacturers of England. At 56, In the full maturity of
his powers he was rich, and one of
the best beloved and most significant
figures In the manufacturing world.
Then he dreamed a dream and he
came to America to our western frontiers to spend the remaining years ot
his life In trying to realize this dream.
He failed.
He wandered Into the
world a discredited and broken old
man. He died neglected and forgotten. But I wish to point out that this
man's life was a marvelous success,
and I bring this message to you for
your individual aid and comfort. I
have not the slightest Interest In •presenting for you tonight a historical biographical subject. I am here to meet
men and women, my brothers and sis•
lers. I want to bring a message which
will take hold of the hearts of every
man and woman here. For we, too,
are successful failures. There Is no
person of adult years In this hall who
has not at some time dreamed a dream
o~ benefiting others possibly one or pos•
s1bly a group. 1Ve have clone our best.
We have given them our time and our
labor; of our hope and our endeavor,
We have given of our money, We have
given of our hearts and we have seen
it all end In ignominious failure.
When a man's life Is finally appraised,
however, I am confident that you and
,lex that
11ters .an
·s. The
Dean George Hodges, D.D.,
still our
Episcopal Theological School,
the ma
Cambridge, Mass.
; ministr
"It Is highly desirable that there
should be a free platform for social
1tic idea
and religious discussion under the aus•
; are pl'
pices of
tlu, Christian
religion.
\nd our
Moreover, it Is a salutary thing for re•
y mirro:
llgion itself to hear the frank criticisms of those who are out of sym•
I the jot
pathy with Its institutions. I hope
ligion a:
your work wlll continue In the liberal
1 take th
spirit, the same fearlessness of free
an's clas
speech and with increasingly good re·
1 socialii
suits.
yellow j
; in its id
'. ends oJ
without norintlillecr dowtY~~anyt11111g re1at111g to t11e~comm0Tl"lnel'"""It"isiiJtl!ii6iioURHitmit"irsnoilld,..-r--,:---11111111
,ut .they must be evolved
be simply a forum for the airing of views .. It must be something '
together work out their
more than a platform for the making of speeches. It m'ust not be
confined to the spiritual conventions of any religion, but it must be·.
shot through and through with moral and splrltuatlpurpose, To
all this broad land where
this end it must not be either a
or a service.
·er in friendly spirit our
n
,,-,-·--0
i;;
0
But cle~r\; re~~g~i:~ that ·whi1;'this~
my idealfor s~ch -~;:;-ecessary to the
a meetirtg,,others will work out quite' different, co?ceptio~s. It ma~with it altogeth,
.ters little how it' is done so Jong as ·you succeed m getting together
But· we do nc
fair• representation~ of all those who have good will and who want keenest joy. T
1.
•
sisters of the· h<
to do something to ma .. e tt count,
to high thinkin
,
Wid~1y' Varying View11 No 'Bar to Profitable Dl11cussion
fellowship of th
'There is another very helpful way in which this interest in the
I wo.uld ~ather
'
evening d ·
church
common l'f e may be nurtured and promoted · I ·have found · from
I
•
•six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~f . guests. at evening . urt~g
. I
_________...,._......_
·•th and p1
'ttuz-,.Qumnuu•_hom"-'lL.Saaamore.Beach each season that It IS posstbl\:-_fello~shti; with
FORD HALL FOLKS
BAUNE8.
....
~: A SUCCESSFUL
!LURE.
. Earl Barnes of Phi la•
e Ford Hall Meet-
1rch
9,
1913.
and fellow students:
t lo tell you a story of
lie was a man who
othing,
He quickly
At 28 he was among
,annfacturers of Engthe full maturity of
was rich, and one of
I and most significant
anufacturing world.
med a dream and he
•1 to our western fronhe remaining years or
, to realize this dream.
: wandered into the
lited and broken old
neglected and forgot1 to point out that this
a marvelous success,
is message to you for
aid and comfort. I
ightest Interest In •pretonight a historical bi.;ct. I am here to meet
11, my brothers and sis•
llring a message which
of the hearts of every.
an here. For we, too,
failures, There Is no
years in this hall who
, ·1 lme dreamed a dream
hPrs possibly one or posWe have done our best.
them our time and our
hope and our endeavor.
of our money. We .have
L•arts and we ·have seen
n Ignominious failure.
life Is finally appraised,
1 confident that you and
i
I wlll find that these failures of ours
will be marked up as the g.re[),test successes In all our lives and It Is for
this purpose of hopeful encouragement
and good cheer that I come before you
tonight with this story.
I have for 20 years been doubly in·
terested in this man. His son was
my colleague. He died through an accl·
dent and I went down where his fath·
er's experiment had been tried, to
gather material for a Memorial. I spent
a week there among the remnants of
that old colony. I think I saw all that
was left in the way of record and human relationship. Subsequently In an
old book store in London I ran across
the first pages of this man's autoblog•
raphy and I learned where he tried
his first experiments antl I went and
saw what was left of them. I have
seen his descendants, too, and everywhere I get the same Impression, the
same justification for my title.
Now, in order that you may under•
stand, let me give you first the place,
where the great EJXperlment was tried
in Posey County, Indiana,
Owen in 1824 came to this land of
nowhere. He tells us that, after rldlng
for days through, the trackless wllderness, guided only by blazed trails he
suddenly came to a place wher1;1 the
forests disappeared and there opened
before him a magnificent view, He
says there were crops growing
everywhere, fruit trees, grain and
wheat, and, in the distance, a considerable town. · As he rode through
this open plain he came into the vH
!age with houses built of timber and
brick, In the midst was a big church.
Two large warehouses were there for
storing grain for two years against
the Indians. A mill for sawing the
timber, another mill for making wine
and as handsome an inn as he could
have found anywhere in England. And
after a meal he went out to the edge
of the town where there was a great
wheat field two miles long, All the
grown people of the village were at
work cutting the wheat with scythes
and laying the grain In bundles, When
the sun went down this long line of
p(lople turned and came back Into the
town. The leader walked in front of
them-and the church doors were open.
He lead them Into the church and
mounted the platform. 'rhey filled the
pews. He addressed a few words of
good cheer and encouragement and
hope for the morrow and then dismissed them to their homes. Owen
was deeply impressed with the sterling
characters and good sense of this at-
3
tentive but rather humble audience.
Now, who were these people? For,
in 1824, the major 1mrt of Indiana was
still a wilderness. They were German
refugees. 'l'hey were known as Rappites, later as Economites. I have to
bring before you tonight three socialistic settlements, three socialistic or
communistic settlements and I want
to point out why two of them succeeded
and the third failed.
.When the French dreamed their
great dream of liberation, terminating
in the Revolution, after 1789, they
changed all conditions in France and
then were beset by a great dream
which changed all Europe, You must
remember that the French Revolution
was a world revolution. They soon
conquered the Rhinelands, Switzerland,
Italy and Spain. And that same revolution spread over this land and
changed the whole civilization of Mexico, of Central America and of all the
South American states. A transformation from monarchlal institutions to re1mbllcan institutions In all Latin America was part of the movement of the
French revolution.
The reaction which followed when
Napoleon's brother was taken from his
seat in Spain spread all through the
Rhinelands and the French were
driven out. The little German princelings came back and tried to re-establish the old regime, But though they
could re-establish the old regime politically; they could not re-establish the
014 conditions religiously, The consequence was that hundreds of thousands of people fled from the Rhine. lands, One group led by Rapp, a
strong figure, a very great personality,
crossed the ocean and landed in Philadelphia. How they made their way
from Philadelphia to the waters of the
Ohio, I do 1iot know. Tonight If you
leave ·Philadelphia at this time, you
would ride all night on a flying express
and anlve at Pittsburg only in time
for breakfast. It Is 350 miles across
forests and over mountains but in some
.manner they transpo,.•tn,d thernselvel:I
there. They built a flat boat and sailed
down the Ohio and up the Wabash and
stopped on this patch of land of 30,000
acres of forests. 'l'hey built their village, planted their fields, made a garden. This Is among the marked experiments in successful socialism.
Now why did they succeed? 1ror this
reastJ11. They were absolutely united.
They were absolutely unitecl. 1r1rst.
They were of one birth and had. the
~ame blood In their veins. They had
eaten the same kind of food; had the
•._, in he,
:ns pro
ogethe1
e is th,
nore I
are fai
l of eii
ing so
1da of
i breed
d by a1
r.tunatt
nding
ced al'
grou
for al
,of Oll
ver fa
e othe1
ve giv,
'nook
I
!
C0111I
he int,
lre nc
nent f
' priva
IUSt al
r
t
i,,
'
.
:,,gs" in Boston, of wltich the fifth a1111ive1:sary has just been celebra!ed, are, tlte mos/
11 1; 011 of tltat city, brb1gi11g into sy111patltetic fe/lowsltip a more comprelte11siv.e repre- ,
1
ature than meets /ogether elsewhere in the New Engla11d 111etropo/1s:, And
111111011 11
tile 11 ,411 d wl1ich leads a11d, 1'Ca~!, governs those gather~11gs:' A_11d as here, ~/early,
' 1vllich conceives ~p I
m1Pl&s
• u.... ac ct1l·t1111toltHQ ◄-fl:rl:h◄lttt941:&m:SflUd[a1:ihL-----------l!lilllill-lld
.,1
w~ shall alt "gl
1us a sta teinentj
ers of the decl
t "we must all J
o means are al
Our Americal
heterogeneous.
us into many ch
ulling us all tof
the stronger bej
our destructio(
constitution an
Less and less";
covers a wide l
11' anything ab
hich are either
110 COl111110n 111
•r, but do not 1
ts are widely
Baptists, Chri
lemocrats, Pro
,11 ly for bitter
housed under
class is comt
ither. The ric
,cnt streets an,
lo with each 'c
nr, naturally d
i,
I
l>een so and
lo turn Christ
rch? Are al
;1ch a com111011
1·e w~i tins- iot
is the world
:jsintegration,;
oday Inadeq~
elements h~
life. Th,
: the free pu
press, with\
which have!
,g elements
2;
1111
a
:omplex tha~
c centers ,am
11ities. The,,
I, is still our
dth the ma1
r its ministr
1ncratic idea',
lives are pl
And our
only 111irro1
·cad the jou
religion al
who take th
· man's clas
:e a sociali!
a yellow j
ous in its id
1
FORD HALL FOLKS
4
same kind of customs and costumes.
They celebrated same: kinds of rites
for birth, marriage and death. They
were of the same thought;, they sang
the same songs. More than this, they
were bonnd together by the two things
thar unite men above all other things
iu this world. First they had undergone persecution; they had left their
homes, given up their property, destrted their fathers and landed on a
strange continent, cnt down the va,st
forest and built themselves a new
home. Such an exJ)erlence drives men
together, mak€s them forget slight differences, forces them back to the practical things they have In common and
makes for brotherhood everywhere. In
lhe second [)lace, they w!lre bound together by the gren t 'leader. Rap[) was
a man of singular [lower, square and
Intelligent. He knew what he wanted
He had the domineering will.
HE
forced his personality upon the people,
establishing his desires.
Then a strange thing hap]Jened.
Rapp determined to desert this village and lead his people once more into
the wilderness. I do not know why.
'I'here seems to be no good reason why
he determined to give u11 this settlement. Possibly he found them under a
condition of prosperity; the 11eople
were developing individual Initiative
and individual will which made it difficult for him to dominate them. Anyway he led the people Into Pennsylvania. One word in conclusion about
this. These people came to own over
$10,000,000 worth of proJ)erty but they
had very few children and the order
gradually died out and not many years
ago, about six, the order was dissolved
and their property divided among those
remaining in the settlement.
My JJlace ls ready now for my man.
He was bom in North Wales. His people were poor. He had nothing. He
says his education was comJ)leted at 7
ye:us old. He could read and write
and· figure a little. At 10 years he
started for London to make his fortune. It Is thought that Garfield and
Lincoln are exceptional men who
climbed to the top. No, I say. All
ov,er the world where children are
born, boys and girls, often very early
in life, start out on their great career.
I never see any Immigrants from the
old lands without feeling that here
among these children we have plenty
of Garfields and Lincolns, great spirited boys and capable-spirited girls who
might give to the world magnificent
leaders.
Owen starts for London and trudges
most of the way to the great metropo1is. '!'here Ile finds employment first
In a linen store which ls half a liaberdashery. This Is important. For here,
as assistant in this small dry goods
store he became acquainted with fabrics, he came to know the woolens and
cotton and silk and derived a kind of
sense of what they_ were and what they
re[)resented. After four or five years
here, he migrated north to Manchester.
In :Manchester he found a man who '
was making wire frames connected
with the spinning industry, He Identified himself with this man and 'subsequently took as part payment, when
the business was dissolved three of
these frames,
The cotton business at that time was
divided and the cotton passed into five
or six different factories , before it
finally came forth as finished cloth. At
19 years of age Owen had three hands
working for him and in a single year
he acquired $1,500.
Then he secured another positioi1 as
superintendent in a factory, whose
owner he persuaded to pay him a
salary equal to what he had earned,
independently,
He built up the business and at the
end of a year it was in a prosperous
condition. At this time he made journeys to the north buying rough thread
and selling fine thread. He went to
Glasgow and on one of these ti•ips he
was introduced by a lady whom he had
known In Manchester ·to a young lady
by the name of Dale. He formed an
admiration for the girl at once. One
of the great forces of his life was coming to play on him. Afterwards he
went there every six months-to Glasgow-for two years and on each trip
he saw Miss Dale. Miss Dale's father
was a very prominent man in Scotland.
He had helped to establish one of the
great banks in Glasgow. He was an
influential man in the Chamber of
Commerce. He was the owner of a
great factory in New Lanark. Owen
did not asJ)lre so high as Miss Dale.
She belonged to a different world from
his. But her friend in Manchester told
him one day that Miss Dale was not
only very fond of him hut that her
heart was disengaged. After that he
sought this friend in Manchester
repeatedly to hear simllar things.
(Laughter.) 'These things were repeated often enough until, Owen says
of himself, "My courage arose agah;st
all posslblllty. I dared to dream sometime of marrying her." Subsequently
he went north with a letter from Mlss
to
:~;:~1~~10-r.,.....h-a=n-d-ed_d_o_w_t_l__
a_nytl~l~g relating ·uiecomtnon e,
9
0
,
;, but they must be evolved
be simply a forum for the airing of views,, It must be, something \
•
be,.,
1110 re than a platform for the making of speeches,,,)t m,ust not h
,st together work out their
ll b I
confined to the spiritual conventions of any rel ll on, , Ut t must e '\ :
shot thr~ugh and through with moral a•.1,d 11plr.1t11.a. ~".rf,.ose .. T~ ':
in all this broad iand where
he either a
~r_!~~~..:. , ,
over in friendly spirit 'our , this encl 1t must
,~'.
Dale and saw
ark. I-le was
slbllitles. He
ners with wh,
Manchester, fo
as a partn<'r,
mills up nort
with him to i
Owen lhon snl
to buy YOIII' \\'
Drinkwater hn,
rll'o too young
hn Ye no cnpltn I
tlernen aro 111.1'
they havo ah111
nro their crod<JI
them 11111I wnH r,
said, "l\lr, Dalo,
worth 7" Dale I
he clld not 1<11011
turlng bt1RlneAR
velop and no R
set for lt. Bui
wlllfng lo leave
-to ow~n who
partners In buy
said, "Well, I an
60,000 pounds ,
fair price. If w,
of 3,000 JlOIIIHh
would be paid
that would he
right," said ,.\-11·.
He was 28 Y<'lll'R
have some quail
to do a thing of
had. not yet h1
great wealth of I
Owen set the prl
buy his mill.
Subsequently I
marry him, I-Ir
fearful that he ,
account of rellg!,
who was an ext
he did not cone
Dale came hack
cannot marn' yr
my father's pern
wl11 get it; I h:
else I want up tc
too."
In a year he
She was a towe1
Whatever failure
were largely om
marriage. His w
did chlldren, con
constancy across
long; life togethe
rich, married to n
Ing In a hanclsom
him to see what l
life. His conscle
asked him: What
only during this
t.
,I
But I clearly recognize that ·while this may be my ideal for such
a meetit1g1 , others will work out quite' different conceptions, It matI -ters little how it' is done so long as ·you succeed in getting together
· fair representation~ of all those who have g~od will and who want
to do something to make it count.
I
Wid~ly· Varying View,i No ·Bar to Profitable Discussion
·There is another very· helpful way in which ·. this interest in the
, com'mon ljfe may be nurtured and promoted. I have foundfrom
· six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~f ,guests. at
-'----'--·-'-----,----'~ _J~mv_summer.home at Sagamor~_Beach e_ach season that_ 1~s_p~:,s1ble
necessa
with it
But'
keenest
siste.rs
to higl
fellows
[ woul<
evening
evening
fellows
. . •aitl
'v
FORD HALL FOLKS
s
1·ts for London and trudges
way to the great metropo•
lie finds employment first
tore which is half a lrnber·lis ls important. For here,
in this small dry goods
1·ame acquainted with fabe to know the woolens and
,ii k and derived a kind of
1 t they were and what they
After four or five years
rated north to Manchester.
I er he found a man who
; wire frames connected
1mlng industry. He identiwith this man and subse1, as part payment, when
, was dissolved three of
, business at that time was
the cotton n.assed into five
•rent factories before it
forth as finished cloth, At
1ge Owen had three hands
him and in a single year
/1 ,600,
,('nred another position as
nt in a factory, whose
,ersuaded to pay him a
to what he had earned
y,
JI the business and at the
1r it was in a prosperous
t this time he made jourorth buying rough thread
tine thread, He went to
un one of these ti•ips he
cd by a lady whom he had
nchester ·to a young lady
of Dale. He formed an
i1· the girl at once.
One
mces of his life was comon him. Afterwards he
1ery six months-to Glas, years and on each trip
llale, lVIiss Dale's father
oniinent man ln Scotland.
d to establish one of the
in Glasgow. He was an
inn in the Chamber of
He was the owner of a
in New Lanark, Owen
·e so high as Miss Dale ..
lo a different world from
friend in Manchester told
that Miss Dale was not
1Hl of him but that her
,engaged. After that he
friend in Manchester
i
hear similar things.
These things were reenough until, Owen says
,fy courage arose against
I dared to dream some1· i ng her."
Subsequently
1 with a Jetter from Miss
I
Dale and saw the works ·in New Lanark. He was' Impressed hy their possi bilitles. He went back to the partners with whom he was working in
Manchester, for he had been taken in
as a partner, interested them in the
mills up north and soon they went
with him to · look over those works.
Owen then said to l\fr. Dale, "I want
to buy your works." Dale smiled as
Drinkwater had smiled and said, '.'You
are too young and inexperienced and
have no capital." He said, "These gentlemen are my business partners and
they have abundant capital and here
are their credentials," Dale examined
them and was fairly satisfied, Then he
said, "Mr. Dale, what is your business
worth?" Dale hesitatingly replied that
he did not know. The cotton manufacturing business was beginning to develop and no standard ·price could 'be
set for it. But he said he would be
willing to .Jeave the price to Mr. Owen
-to Owen who was to be one of the
partners in buying the works! Owen
said, "Well, I am inclined to think that
60,000 pounds ($300,000) would be a
fair price. If )Ve paid it in instalments
of 3,000 pounds a year ($15,000) it
would be paid Ju 20 years. I think
that would be a fair price." "All
right," said Mr. Dale, "I will accept."
He was 28 years old then. A man must
have some quality of integrity in him
to do a thing of that nature. But life
had not yet heen disturbed by the
great wealth of the modern period. So
Owen set the price at which he was to
buy his mill.
.
·
Subsequently he asked Miss Dale to
marry him, He was himself already
fearful that he would have trouble on
account of religion and from Mr. Dale;
who was an extremely religious man,
he did not conceal his doubts. Miss
Dale came back to him and said, "I
cannot marry you unless you can get
my father's permission." He said, "I
will get it; I have gotten everything
else I want up to now and I'll get you,
too."
In a year he had won Miss Dale.
She was a tower of strength to him.
Whatever failures he may have made·
were· largely offset by his intelligent
marriage, His wife brought him splendid children, courage, faith, hope and
constancy across all the years of their
Jong: life together. At 28, this man,
:lch, married to a superior woman, llvmg In a handsome house, looked about
him to see what he should do with his
life. His conscience set to work and
aslrnd him: What ls my life work? If
only during this coming week, every
5
man and woman in this hall would say
to himself, how many days have I to
Jive, how many years, what shall I do
to make my life significant!
Before going on to describe Owen's
work in New Lanark I must say that,
until 120 years ago, Elngland was a
great agricultural land. It was a land
of wheat fields, grain fields and small
farms. A good deal of manufacturing
went on, but always in private homes.
There were no factories, 'fhe 18th century saw two inventions which changed_
the nature of the civilization of Elnglancl. These were the invention of the
stationary engine and the cotton gin
for separnting the seed from the cotton fibres. ffingland was successfully
placed to take advantage of these two
inventions. She had only to dig down
lnlo the earth µnd there was plenty of
iron; she hoisted the iron and made it
into stationary engines. Just outside
of the iron was almost inexhaustible
coal. She ~tood the engine outside the
beds of coal and hoisted the coal and
fed the engines and had power to drive
the wheels in industry. All that she
needed was hands. Then began the
great exodus from the farms which
still goes on today, Representatives
of the mills went out oi1 the hillsides
and through the valleys to bid people
come to work in the mills, They offered them svlenclid wages - what
seemed to them like splendid wages,
So they left their little holdings and
came down to spin and make cotton
cloth . for the. ships to carJf all over
ChristeJldom.
\iiThere was no type of factory in existence; the factory town was yet to
be. Suppose I handed yon-each one
of yon here tonight a sheet of paper
and said to you, "Draw me a plan of a
terminal station for an airship route
It will not be long before we shall have
airships all over the United States
with regular routes of call. They will
have terminal stations. Draw me the
architectural plan-outline a sketch of
the way a terminal station will look
for an airship," You would be embarrassed for there is no such thing in the
public mind today. 'l'hat was the state
of mind concerning factories when
Robert Owen took hold of the measure.
'l'he factories used were old barns to
which the people came down from
their cottages and farms. They lived
In old shanties, like a summer encampment just starting, with no sanJ.
taJ:,y conveniences. 'l'hese people were
habituated to individual bargainhig in
terms, of agriculture and they could
not combine. Tiley could not stand
";i
\
O'
COi
si:x
1all' all
statem
the <
must 1
6
111s arc
Ameri
ugenec
) manJ
us all
rongel'
\es true
itution
:in<l le
s a wi
ything
are ei
,1111nor
l <lo I,
e wid·
ists, (
:rats,
for bi
sec! ur
; is C
The
;treets
th ea<
atural
l SO
1m
a
C\'.
Arc
com1
aitin~
hew<
egrati
1
1
Inac
·111ent1
Ii fe.
,c free
·ss, w
,ich h1
lcmen
,plex;
_-nters
l'S,
1
FORD HALL FOLKS
together. There were no laws for. their
• vrodnctlon and there was a firm conviction that there ought to be no ,laws;
that every man should stand alone.
Owe1i set himself to rlgh t these
wrongs, meanwhile turning over his
capital twice a year. Now any man
who can make 200,Yo on his capital
ought to be satisfied. A man ought ~o
be satisfied but it never works that
way. The more a man 1ias the more
he wants and the passion for making
more and more money hacl the English
employers firmly in its grip.
The children in these manufacturing
centres were roaming around the
streets. There was no education In
F.ngland then; state schools did not·
exist in E'ngland until 1870 a11d at' this
time no provisions whatever for the education of these children were made.
At first the wages seemed Immense to
the workers because they h'ad not been
used to having nrnch money. The few
. things they wanted to buy they had
bought by barter largely and they lived
on the products of the farm. The
wages had seemed immense but here
outside the factory where everything
was to be 'bought and paid for the
wages proved inadequate. There was
no way to force these wages up and so
pressure came upon the family. One
day the woman said, 'I can attend to
some of those spindles" and so she
went across with her husband to the
place where he worked and said to the
overseer, "Put me to work. I wlll
work for less than John." Her name
was added to the payroll.
Soon the
dividends Increased and they sent the
men home. Then one day the woman
said to the overseer, "My boy Jim, who
l8 ten years old, can attend to some of
the spindles. He can do something.
He Is better off here than on the street,
put him to work and ·pay him whatever you will." So Jim went on the
payroll and at the end of the month
the overseer .found that a larger income could be derived from children's
work than from the women's work.
~'hen Owen came to New Lanark
he found almost all the women and
children of the town working and literally hundreds of men Idle and wastIng their time. They were at a shop
where liquor was being sold and they
were drinking gin. You see lt was in•
evitable that It should come to that
from the first. It Is inevitable that it
should go on that way now.
This man, 28 years old, rich, Is a
man to right these wrongs. First he
tore down the shanties which were
there and put up cottages and im•
proved the building of the factory. His
were the most remarkable bulldingtl
in the world at. that time, his the ideal
factory town of the age. He put streets
between the houses. He put In lamps
to light the night. 'fhe little shops
sup.plying gin to everyone and selling
all the products at big prices, he closed
up. Two new shops were established
and tlielr profits put Into improving
the village.
'l'hen came the war of 1812 and the
Elmbargo Act. For nine months Eng•
land could get no cotton and for nine
months Robert Owen paid every one
of his employees full wages. The people knew by now wl10 their friend was.
He went ,further. He said, "These
houses are badly kept." Overseers
were apjiointed to look after the social conditions of the village. A man
would come to the door and say,
"Madam, you clean up · your house,
sweep this out; fix this room up." He
went further stHJ-here •Js his philosophy.
He said: A man's life is de•
termlned by circumstances. You take
two children-I do not care where they
are born and put one under good con•
ditions and he will make a good man;
put the other under bad conditions and
he will make a bad man. I know that
Is not true; you know that Is not tru!c',
We all know today that there Is a good
deal in heredity and that when the
parents suffer from disease it Is pretty
sure to affect their ofllspr!ng. But his
philosophy Is the best In the world because, while a reformer cannot change
the Inherited spirit of man very much
he can change his circumstances. His
philosophy said "change the clrcum•
stances and yoti will make all men
good." To emphasize the fact that he
believed he could shape a man' life by
his environment he organized a school.
Then he looked for a schoolmaster 'and
· found In the works a man by the name
of James Buchanan. Wherever this
man went there were to be seen children on his shoulders. So, though he
could barely read and write Owen said,
"Yon shall be the schoolmaster.". Then
he took three young girls and put them
in there to help Btichanan. He said,
"First make these children happy, If
I come here and find a child unhappy
you have .failed. Every child must be
happy, In the second place. Make
· these children love each other and
work together sympathetically and harmoniously." That Is a splendid educational policy. "In the third place,
teach them to love the things around
them, plants, trees and so on, In the
fourth place,-if you ever get to that
; still
1 the,
s mi~
·atic i
•s are
;\n<l
ly mi
,I the
digio1
o tak
1an's
a soc
yello
sin i1
C enclc ,'
.. ' ' ; - - ----~ .thin relating to the"cominciii-life:
sn 2j !) "
0~ ( :
without nor handed down
any . g
£
f r the airing of views, It must be somethrng
but they must be evolved
he simply a olruttfn o for the making of speeches, It niust not be._
•
k
ti1811. more than a p a orm
,
,
together wor out
, itual conventions of any rell gIon, bu t It mus t be , •
1
. .·
confined to t 1 sp1rthrough with moral an d spIrItua1-.pu.rpose. T o \' .
1e d
,
•··
.
1
1
,
· d I
shot t 1roug 1 an
.
I . ;c. •·,· .
,
all tlus broad Ian, ~v !_ere
•
cl 't must not be either a lyceum or_ a ~Cll'!_C~,~~C.::s_;_ ,~
.. _ .. :~ .. t~,:.-.nr1tu "n.u•1f 01tt" . t1
11S en
1
I·
teach them something
(Laughter.) Good edu
Icy. It soon became
John Stuart Mill visit,
borrowed Buchanan a
London and started a
this developed the sch,
British Isles.
·
Now, again you have
communism which s1
Because the people ·
gether by every kind
same descendantS', !iv
villages, intermarried,
toms and same· costnn
and same ceremonies
rlage and death; same
· life.. They were all
too, by the fact that
gone a great transfornculture to industrlalls
fered the same prlvat
they were bound toge
man. Robert Owen p1
will over them. Almo1
the conditions of the R
he succ!:leded.
Then ·he dreamed a
this should extend all
He went 9own to Lon
studied conditions tlie·
like Ford Hall, and a
to come. He mounted ·
experienced speaker I
and spoke straight to
heart. The hall was
seen men who were
meeting. They all tell
This man stood before
"Men and brothers, ye
crush each other. EvE
est Is_ every other ma1
every one of you, II
climb, must climb hr le
others, You can neve
backs of others to any
cant ha:pplness and )
something worth while
climb with others, ho
the hand. It sounds ,
have heard It on this J
ber of times.
But I
years ago. Then, this n
of his journeys to Pn
he had friends and 11
the standing commltte
ulate child labor.
'l'he measure was Ii
commlttee. It was bro
reading and then W(
They said, what "
fcrmed for anyway-ti
terfere with the rlgl
And so Parliament clo
opportunity to any cl
rise.
-13~t°f ~l~;r\~
Tot
· 1·, reco~~i;~-ti;~twhi1e~ this "may b~ }ny i~eal
~;ch --;-;;~ces~a
'\ a meetirtg,,others will work out quite' different,co?ceptlo~s. It ma~with it.
,ters little how it' is done so long as 'you succeed tn getting together
But '
· fair representations of all those who have good will and who want
k_eenest
,
·
·
·
.
s1ste_rs <
.
t 0 h' 1
to do something to make 1t count. · ' · ' . . ,
·
1g 1
:y
. Wid~ly· Varying ViewB No ·Bar 'to Profitable DiBcUBBion
There is another very helpful way in which this interest in the
com'mon life may be nurtured and promoted. I have found ,from
six· years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~£ , guests. at
'truLSummer home at Sagamor~_Beach e.ach season that_1t 1s p~~s1ble
----'-~--'----'---L--'-'-~...L
s
FORD HALL FOLKS
Jrnlldlng of the factory, His
11ost remarkable buildings
I at that time, his the ideal
1 or' the age, He put streets
, houses. He put in lamps
e night. The little shops
iu to everyone and selling
nets at big prices, he closed
e IV shops were established
ll'ofits put into improving
e the war of 1812 and the
:t. For nine months Eng;e t no cotton and for nine
Jert Owen paid every one
Jyees full wages. The peouow who their friend w'as.
nrther. He said, "These
badly kept."
Overseers
1ted to look after the so•
ms of the village. A man
; to the door and say,
)ll clean up your house,
ut; fix tlus room up," He
r still-here 'is his phll·
2 said: A man's life is de·
-circumstances. You take
-I do not care where they
I put one under good conIle wlll make a good man;
· under bad co'nditlons and
J a bad man.
I know that
rou know that is not true.
today that there ls a good
,tlity and th.at when the
r from disease it is pretty
, their offispring. But his•
, the best in the world bea reformer cannot change
spirit of man very much
;e his circumstances. His
aid "change the circumyoti ·will make all men
rnphasize the fact that he
onld shape a man' life by
ent he organized a school.
,•cl for a schoolmaster 'and
worlrn a man by the name
whanan. Wherever this
ere were to be seen chil,houlders. So, though he
·ead and write Owen said,.
the schoolmaster." Then
young girls and put them
1elp Buchanan. He said,
these children happy, if
a]l(J find a child unhappy
,,(l. Every child must be
he second place. Make
·u love each other and
· sympathetically and barThat is a splendid ed11'.\'. "In the third place,
:J love the things around
trees and so on, In the
-if you ever get to that
1
-
teach them something out of books."
(Laughter.) Good education, good pol-'
Icy. It soon became so famous that
John Stuart Mill visited the 1Jlace and
borrowed Buchanan and took him to
London and started a school. Out of.
tl\is developed the schools all over the
British Isles.
·
Now, again you have a ty,pe of social
communism which succeeds.
Why?
Because the people were bound together by every kind of bond; of the
same descendantS', lived in the same
villages, intermarried, of the same customs and same costumes, food, habits
and same ceremoqies of birth, marriage and death; same attitude toward
life. They were all bound together,
too, by the fact that they had undergone a great transformation from agriculture' to Industrialism and had suffered the same privations. Moreover,
they were bound together by a great
man. Robert 1
Owen put his own good
will over them. Almost identical with
the conditions of the Rappltes. And so
he succeeded.
Then he dreamed a dream. He said
this should extend all over the world
He went down to London on a visit;
studied conditions there, hired a hall,
like Ford Hall, and asked the people
to come. He mounted the platform, in
experienced speaker though he was,
and spoke straight to them from his
heart. The hall was packed. I have
seen men who were present at thiF
meeting, They all tell the same story.
This man stood before them. He said,
"Men and brothers, you ought not to
crush each other. Every man's inter•
est is every other man's Interest and
every one of you, if you wish to
climb, must climb by lending a hand tc
others. You can never climb on the
backs of others to any point of signlfi•
cant ha·pplness and you. will reach
something worth while only when you
climb with others, holding them by
the hand. It sounds very good, You
have heard it on this platform a munber of times.
But it was new 100
years ago, Then, this man went on one
of his journeys to Parliament where
he had friends and he Introduced to
the -standing committee a bill to regulate child labor.
The measure was taken up by the
committee. It was brought to the first
reading and then went no further,
They said, what was Parliament
farmed fo1'. anyway-that It should interfere with the right of contract?
And so Parliament closed the door ol
opportunity to any child who would
rise.
fellows!
[ would
evening
evening
fellows!
•~ith
7
One day he called together thousands
of men. He said, "Men and brothers, I
have come into his hall today probably
the 'best-loved man in the British Isles.
I shall go out of this hall the worst
hated man in the British Isles. But It
Is my duty to tell you what I firm]}
and devoutly believe.
I have been
urging you for years to lend a hand
and· help your brothers but we have
failed because you will not act, you
will not co-operate; you will not b.e·
lleve. You have no. faith. And why:
Because you are bound in your minds
and hearts by religion. The priests
have held you down until no man daref
to call his soul his own. ( Appia use.)
You never will be men until you dar, '
stand up and look each other in the
face and see what may be accomplished."
They rose and hissed him and he
was rescued from the hall ]Jy the police
with very great difficulty and taken
back to his lodgings. From that day
·111s usefulness in Tilngland was passed.
Now ladies and gentlemen, I have not
the slightest desire to back these sentiments. As a student of history I am
convinced that no institution in the
world has clone so much for the uplift•.
Ing of humanity as Christianity. But
the Christian church has made many
mistak~s. time and time and time
again. ·'l'he teachings of that greatest
of all leaders, Jesus of Nazareth, have
been misa:pplied repeatedly, as you
know.· This man was willing· to bank
his credit and his life and his standing
upon that truth as he saw it; all glorJ
to lllm for his courageous utterance.
Of course every door of opportunity
closed to him; he was a marked man,
rt would be difficult for a man holding
these views today to keep on In any
ago,
He carrie to America and bought out
tjiat tract of land of'which we spoke a
while ago, 'I'he success of the Rappites
convinced him that he could succeed so
he bought the place and paid for it.
Now the man is ready and the place
Is ready for such an experiment as he
wished to make. I will make its story
brief. It was brief, It lasted only •two
years. First he needed a colony, He
went out through surrounding settl'ements and preached his doctrine of fellowship and good will. He had houses
already made, the land cleared . and
· ware-houses filled with food .for a year.
· Backed by this and his general reputation, the people came flocking. In
six weeks he had 1,000 people-the
flotsam and Jetsam of the frontier,
made up of all nationalities and all
f
nmruwi
fY~~V'Q.V'i'~"~'w
lion of ti,at city, b1-iirgi11b
i,ilo
sy,,ij,dltfitlt
ti
'
,3'+
'
11111 a11 11 at11re than meets together elsewhere in tire New England metropolis:. A11.
1/ie 11 ,i 11 d which leads and really governs those gatherings,
A11d .as here, clearly
0
0
· .....
whicj;. co11c,e1ve,,1, QJAjtL.-tiJ.liMMfillligj,~IJJJ,;J11.,MUA,i.lJJ,,~W;CJ,iU.Uii!l11t1,J.l!!Jla[.!.li!l'11!lJ..W...uJ~~dlo~l.1i1id~a~r.:;.:it~-----•••••--
.,,,.,
we shall alf
,t1s a statett
1
ers' of the '
t "we must 1
i
\
n1eans ar:
Our Ameri
· heterogene< ·
t1s into man)
1ttlling us
the stronger
, our destru<
constitution
"Less and le
covers a wi
ow anything
\\' hich are ei
no commor
1er, but do 11
nts are wid,
,\ Baptists, (
Democrats, :
only for bi.
he housed m1
-h class is c,
e other. The
ferent streets
, do with eac
poor, natural\
10
aq
11·s been so a
to turn Ch
'hurch? Are
reach a comr
, are waitin~
ich is the we
r <lisintegrati;
.is
I
f Today Inad
,{
/
8
FORD HALL FOLKS
schools of thought, · Owen organized
them with great effo1•t and· went back
to England for supvlles. He sold out
all his ]lossesslons and nine months
later returned with what is known as
his "Boat,Joacl of knowledge," and a
great mass of 111aJJS,
Within a few clays, after he came
back, he broug,ht order out of chaos
but he could not maintain it. 'fhe people were idle and divided and, at the
encl of two years, Owen called them
together and told them he had tried an
ex])eriment but had found it could not'
succeed, From that clay the thing was
broken. He wandered out a discredited man.
Yet I maintain that ,he was a marvelous success, What did this man
stand .for? Something more than a
mere existence; som.ethlng more than
equal opportunity for man and woman,
What did he stand for? l<'lrst; for the
belief In human brotherhood, He believed that every llrnn shoulcl lend a
, helJJing hand to every other man, He
believed in absolutely equal OJJJJortunlty for every man, and woman everywhere in the world. He wo11ld give
women exactly the same opportunity
as to men, (Applause.) He believed
In the enlightenment of all our defectives,
He believed that crime was
.either ignorance or disease.
He believed in the enlightened treatmont of
all you,ng children, 'l'hese dreams he
never realized, 'fhey are dreams that
reach on into eternity,
Time is too
short for them, By urging these he
gave opportunity for their development, I was told that when I vl'Slted
New Harmony that I would find socialism l1atecl, I found just the contrary,
I found about 2,000 people there, It
was one of the neatest, cleanest and
handsomest towns I have ever seen, I
fonnd in this town a library with a
paid librarian, I found In addition to
this an art gallery of which any city
might be well proud of. In It was 300
handsome oil painting given by Murphy who came over amongst the first
settlers. I fonnd an 01iera house where
vast theatrical ]lerformances were •presented, I found three societies; one
for mutual insurance; another for mu•
tual benefit and another for town planning that. Owen started originally,
Moreover, Owen left children who were
of great service to the world, Now
man could not be blamed if his sons
to
went wrong but when a man has sons
and all of them go right there must be
something pretly good in that family,
Owen had four sons. They were all
educated men and all lived to do hlm
honor, By reason of them as well 'as
because of his Ideals his life stands out
a glorious success. (Applause.)
A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS.
Q, Is there any doubt that Robert
Owen would have been a Socialist?
A, Robert Owen's teachings are
proving to be .socialism, He ls recognized everywhere as one of the fathers
of our modern social science and so
ultimately would be one of the fathers
of socialism. If I may add a word I
would say that. Robert Owen would
have been a very sympathetic follower
of John Spargo, (Applause.)·
Q, How can we have strictly equal
opportunity and not have competition?
A, Read Spargo's book Practical
,I JJJ)licati.on of Socla.lisni.
You will
find it a most entertaining and charming treatment of the subject. He main•
talns that under socialism there would
be a very large degree of indlvjclual
freedom.
Q, Does the speaker think that Robert Owen's Ideal of equal opportunity
can be practised under our present system?
A. In some cases it can be practised
pretty well, Our present system gives
some peo11le remarkable freedom; on
the other hand the great mass of the
industrial workers·· today are chained
uncler conditions even less favorable,
than in 'Owen's time,
Q, Isn't the Church taking the same
posit1011 today that It took In the days
of Owen regarding Socialism, Woman's Suffrage, etc.?
A, No, I would like to see Woman's Suffrage brought in tomorrow.
And, It Is wrong to say that the Catholic church Is altogether opposed to it,
In regard to Socialism: I can bring
you Christian ministers on this ·plat•
form who will present a scheme of society that every extreme socialist In
this hall would accept,
Q, While J\'lr. Owen was in Indiana
did he try to seek any assistance from
the Legislature?
A, No, he had to r1111 It as an independent colony-lncle]lenclent of everything,
.
·ting element~
life.
·.~ny; the free
free press, wi
rnts which ha
icting elemen\
1te.
1
111d complex t
large centers:
nmunities, 11
chool, is still \
l'le with the I
under its mini
democratic i(
1cir lives are 1
Ying, And <
hich only mi~
\Ve read the j
:s, in religio1'
hose who tak~
other man's q
~81
,11 take a soc\
ly, or a yello1
,ogeneous in it
from the end ,
_ __
_
_
eel from withouniof11filioecl dowil-ITT anyt11111g re1au11g to we comn;10ffl'lul!~t'!'.J11J;1~!
_ 0 1)!1•t1o?1
be simply a forum for the atrlng of views.
someth111g (
others, b ut t Iiey mus t b e evo Ive d
'
k'
£ speecI1es, ..;; It mus t no t b e.
'.
,,
'
• h
k
t th··
more than a platform for the ma 111g o
ple must tog et er wor ou
eir
•
f
11 I -. b t. It
t b ' ·
confined to the spiritual couventt.ons o . any. r··e. g· Qn., .:·u . mus e..
..
place in all this broad land wl~ere
shot through and through with moral and llplrltual purpose, To :
talk over in friendly spirit our . this end it must
be either a lyceum or a· ae
, . ,,
111111011
I
a
'"!~muliFoe'
I
1/
1
to read
several
er our
nty-five
d Fritz
:?
ys they
at corment in
s great
: public
s probt which
,s there
ground
ther, to
J shape
s being
ke bold
nay be,
in the
v York
r, New
1g in a
~rnoons
ton has
,prings,
r much
ngs tov's life.
because
ineered
here to
already
tve for
d, trueics and
leained
1ve
en-
nge of
far as
nter of
h more
·t their
Iler the
~eous)y
y prosinstitutively),
est and
wledge,
irnulate
y town
,uld be
ng and
should
1cthi11g
11A
necessary to I
But I clear!y, recognize that while this may be' my ideal for such
a meeting,,others _will work out quite' different conceptions. It mat• , with it altoge:
·ters little how it• is done so long as •you succeed in getting together
But we do:
keenest joy,
fair representations of all those who have good will and who want
to do something to· make it count.
·
· siste.rs of the
to high thinki
Wid~ly· Varying View11 No 'Bar to Profitable Discussio~
fellowship of 1
There is another very helpful way in which. this interest in the
[ would ~athe1
com'mon life may be nurtured and promoted. I. have found from
evening churc
.,
·six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group of guests at
evening d11rin1
;r--,---'------'--...i.kl-....J~.._.,.. m,u..-hama.ui_LS11aamore.Beach each season that it fa_possi~Je.-Jc;H9wship wit
· i, and J
'in h,
s pr
retht
is ti
)re
·e fa
of ei
1g 5(
la of
Vol. r. No. 12.
lVI_arch r6, 1913.
Price Ten Cents
bree<
by a
SELF-MEASUREMENT.
of natural laws In process of time just
-:unat,
the same as the powers of the body
ding
The most difficult thing In the world 'are developed-only they travel farther.
!d al'
It ls a pity to fall short of the full
is to get an accurate measure of yourgrou:
self,-your own strength and capacity stature of one's manhood. And it is
or al
pathetic to be forever reaching out for
and sincerity. The easiest thing is to
the shining moon. It is the part of
1{ Olli
deceive yourself,
er fa<
Nothing ls more necessary, If you common sense to get a good measure
of yourself.
would accomplish the thing for which
other
you were made, than to get that selfl give
same accurate measure of yourself.
nook
And nothing Is more dangerous than
comn
the habit of deceiving yourself.
e inte
Some fail because they take too
NEXT SUNDAY'S SPEAKER,
e not
large a measure of theinselves and cannot live up to their own expectations.
ent fc
Rev. Nicholas Van der Py! of HavBut the great majority, I think, in erhill who, more than any other single
privat,
spite of the seeming ·prevalence of self- incliviclllal, contributed to sane and
st all
concelt, take too small a measure of sountl public opinion at the time of the
themselves, which Is none the less fa- Lawrence strike, addresses us next
tal, though It does not advertise its Sunday, his subject being "Lessons
failure quite so conspicuously,
from Recent Industrial Outbreaks."
'I'he truth of the matter is, you must Mr. Van der Py! is a keen and syml'etak~ your measure frequently and pathetic student of every form of peoIn many different ways; for you are a ple's movement and came to know Etllvlng, growing thing, and your pow- tor and Giovanetti well during those
ers are either waxing or waning all months when they languished in jail.
the time according to the way In He can tell us much of value, therewhich you are using, them,
fore, about their cause and similar
Leam to measure your own spirit causes in other communities.
from the analogies of your own body.
Your physical measurements will tell Rey, Hen'ry C. Vedder, D.D.,
Crozer Theological Seminary,
YQll at the very start whether you can
Chester, Pennsylvania.
excel as a sprinter or a wrestler or
"The Ford Hall meetings are a
whether you may be just an average
man at either. But on,Jy daily experi- unique Institution. There have been
ence and careful training and testing attempts to establish similar meetwill give you the measure of how far ings In other cities, some of which
yoii can go In the direction of your have been. moderately successful for
a time, but none have rivalled, not
special bent.
Llkewlse ln the things that are un- to say equalled, Ford Hall. This is
seen a careful measurement of your because there is but one George W.
evident capacities and powers will Coleman. The combination of qualishow at once your special gifts, your ties demanded for tlrn successful conobvious lacks, or your average all- duct of Stich meetings, year after
ronnd qualities. Then daily practice, year, is not common in a single perwith careful and sincere watching, sonality, \Viele knowledge of men, as
well as thorough knowledge of huwlIJ tell you the rest,
But this difference must be bome man nature, unflagging enthusiasm
tempered by hard sense, much
In mind: there are ,limits beyond ence In handling all sorts and expericondiwhich we know thE) body cannot go
tions of men, a gift of humor and unbut the capacities of the mind and failing patience, perfect courtesy and
soul seem almost infinite.
a firm wlll,-all these In just the
And just there lies the danger of our right proportions, joined to an unplaying the fool with ourselves, Be- feigned love of God and man, go to
cause these !)Owers seem limitless It make up the conductor of such an
does not follow that they work ' by enterprise.
Vi7hat wonder men of
nrn 91c. They ex'111nid by the operation tlrn t type 11re rare!"
·
jforb
Mau jfolhs
Ir~&~
t••~•-•:o-J7--r 0~0w,,-i.1.., , .. •·z-·---·-11/ltllre than meets together elsewhei·e ht'tTI(; 'N~{ft'ttii'g1attd 11leirofolli,!$·1A!l&J;W~
A11d as here,· clearly·
11d which leads a11d l'l?al/y, governs those, gatherings.
• co11ceives bpj
's II as rnlminatill iii J,11111a, solidarity .
~
:tll all
,tatemen
the dee
111ust flf
2
1
so and
rn Chris
Are a
commo:
1itin~ :lo
1e worlc
·gration,
Inadeq
111ents h
ife. Th
, free pl
,s, with
ch have
,·ments <
si:
FORB HALL FOLKS
ns are ;
\rnerica
,geneom
many c'
11s all tc
onger b
cstructi<
tution a
,n<l less'
a wide
·thing a
ire eith(
111111011 r
<lo not
widely
sts, Chr
rats, ·Pr,
or bitte
ed unde
is com
The ri
t reets ar
h each·
1turally,
co
I will find that these
will be marked 1111 ns
cesses In all our llv
this purpose of hopef
and good cheer that l
tonight with this st01
I have for 20 year:
terested In this ma1
my colleague. He cllec
dent and I went dow
er's ex]leriment had
gather material for a r
a week there amo111s
that old colony. I th
was left In the way ,
man relationship. S1
old book store In L01
the first pages of th i
raphy and I learnec
his first experiments
saw what was left
seen his clescendantf
where I get the sam
same justification fo1
Now, In order Urn
stand, let me give y,
where the great exp,
In Posey County, 1111
Owen in 1824 cam
nowhere, He tells m
for days through, tlH
ness, guided only b,
suddenly came to
forests dlsa])J)eared ,
before him a magni
says there were
everywhere, fruit ,
wheat, and, In the
siderable town, As
this open plain he c
!age with houses bu
brick. 1:n the mlclst
Two large warehous,
storing grain for t.
the Indians. A mil
timber, another mill
and as handsome a11
have found anywhen
after a meal he wen
of the town where 1
wheat field two mil
grown people of th,
work cutting the w
and laying the grain
the sun went down
people turned and c:
town. The leader ,,
them-and the churc
He lead them into
mounted the platfor 1
pews. He addresse,
good cheer and e1
hope for the morr,
missed them to th,
was dee])ly impresse,
characters and goocl
0
EDWIN D, i\llilAD,
Edwin D, Mead,
The World Peace Foundation, ·
Boston.
"The Ford Hall movement has lived
with increasing vitality and power for
five years, and will go on Jiving, be•
cause it was a movement which was
needed here in Boston, and similar
1r.ovements are needed In every American city, because it has been Informed and inspired from the beginning trntil now with the right spirit
and because It has been conducted
with great abl!ity and common sense.
It has taught the churches lessons and
it has brought home to the whole pub•
lic the necessity of bringing the real
r(Jigious sentiment and Ideal to bear
directly upon the really vital and
pressing Issues of here. and now,"
Rev. Woodman Bradbury, D. D.,
Old Cambridge Baptist Church.
"In five short yearf\ the movement
has overcome opposition, dissipated
doubt, established its rai.son d'etre,
proved its usefulness, stimulated slm•
liar meetings in other centres, and
sent out a great light from the
ancient beacon on the hill. In short,
it has grown from an experiment to
an Institution,"
l'JtOF llAll~ES,
I
ROBERT OWEN: A SUCCESSFUL
FAILURE,
(Address of Prof. Earl Barnes of Phi ladelphla at the Ford Hall Meeting, March 9, 1913,
.
Mr. Ch'alrman and fellow students:
I am here tonight to tell you a story of
a man's life, He was a man who
started with nothing.
He quickly
achieved success. At 28 he was among
the foremost manufacturers of England. At 56, In the full maturity of
his powers he was rich, and one of
the best beloved and most significant
figures In the manufacturing world.
Then he dreamed a dream and he
came to America to our western frontiers to spend the remaining years ot
his life In trying to realize this dream.
He failed.
He wandered Into the
world a discredited and broken old
man. He died neglected and forgotten. But I wish to point out that this
man's life was a marvelous success,
and I bring this message to you for
your individual aid and comfort. I
have not the slightest Interest In •presenting for you tonight a historical biographical subject. I am here to meet
men and women, my brothers and sis•
lers. I want to bring a message which
will take hold of the hearts of every
man and woman here. For we, too,
are successful failures. There Is no
person of adult years In this hall who
has not at some time dreamed a dream
o~ benefiting others possibly one or pos•
s1bly a group. 1Ve have clone our best.
We have given them our time and our
labor; of our hope and our endeavor,
We have given of our money, We have
given of our hearts and we have seen
it all end In ignominious failure.
When a man's life Is finally appraised,
however, I am confident that you and
,lex that
11ters .an
·s. The
Dean George Hodges, D.D.,
still our
Episcopal Theological School,
the ma
Cambridge, Mass.
; ministr
"It Is highly desirable that there
should be a free platform for social
1tic idea
and religious discussion under the aus•
; are pl'
pices of
tlu, Christian
religion.
\nd our
Moreover, it Is a salutary thing for re•
y mirro:
llgion itself to hear the frank criticisms of those who are out of sym•
I the jot
pathy with Its institutions. I hope
ligion a:
your work wlll continue In the liberal
1 take th
spirit, the same fearlessness of free
an's clas
speech and with increasingly good re·
1 socialii
suits.
yellow j
; in its id
'. ends oJ
without norintlillecr dowtY~~anyt11111g re1at111g to t11e~comm0Tl"lnel'"""It"isiiJtl!ii6iioURHitmit"irsnoilld,..-r--,:---11111111
,ut .they must be evolved
be simply a forum for the airing of views .. It must be something '
together work out their
more than a platform for the making of speeches. It m'ust not be
confined to the spiritual conventions of any religion, but it must be·.
shot through and through with moral and splrltuatlpurpose, To
all this broad land where
this end it must not be either a
or a service.
·er in friendly spirit our
n
,,-,-·--0
i;;
0
But cle~r\; re~~g~i:~ that ·whi1;'this~
my idealfor s~ch -~;:;-ecessary to the
a meetirtg,,others will work out quite' different, co?ceptio~s. It ma~with it altogeth,
.ters little how it' is done so Jong as ·you succeed m getting together
But· we do nc
fair• representation~ of all those who have good will and who want keenest joy. T
1.
•
sisters of the· h<
to do something to ma .. e tt count,
to high thinkin
,
Wid~1y' Varying View11 No 'Bar to Profitable Dl11cussion
fellowship of th
'There is another very helpful way in which this interest in the
I wo.uld ~ather
'
evening d ·
church
common l'f e may be nurtured and promoted · I ·have found · from
I
•
•six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~f . guests. at evening . urt~g
. I
_________...,._......_
·•th and p1
'ttuz-,.Qumnuu•_hom"-'lL.Saaamore.Beach each season that It IS posstbl\:-_fello~shti; with
FORD HALL FOLKS
BAUNE8.
....
~: A SUCCESSFUL
!LURE.
. Earl Barnes of Phi la•
e Ford Hall Meet-
1rch
9,
1913.
and fellow students:
t lo tell you a story of
lie was a man who
othing,
He quickly
At 28 he was among
,annfacturers of Engthe full maturity of
was rich, and one of
I and most significant
anufacturing world.
med a dream and he
•1 to our western fronhe remaining years or
, to realize this dream.
: wandered into the
lited and broken old
neglected and forgot1 to point out that this
a marvelous success,
is message to you for
aid and comfort. I
ightest Interest In •pretonight a historical bi.;ct. I am here to meet
11, my brothers and sis•
llring a message which
of the hearts of every.
an here. For we, too,
failures, There Is no
years in this hall who
, ·1 lme dreamed a dream
hPrs possibly one or posWe have done our best.
them our time and our
hope and our endeavor.
of our money. We .have
L•arts and we ·have seen
n Ignominious failure.
life Is finally appraised,
1 confident that you and
i
I wlll find that these failures of ours
will be marked up as the g.re[),test successes In all our lives and It Is for
this purpose of hopeful encouragement
and good cheer that I come before you
tonight with this story.
I have for 20 years been doubly in·
terested in this man. His son was
my colleague. He died through an accl·
dent and I went down where his fath·
er's experiment had been tried, to
gather material for a Memorial. I spent
a week there among the remnants of
that old colony. I think I saw all that
was left in the way of record and human relationship. Subsequently In an
old book store in London I ran across
the first pages of this man's autoblog•
raphy and I learned where he tried
his first experiments antl I went and
saw what was left of them. I have
seen his descendants, too, and everywhere I get the same Impression, the
same justification for my title.
Now, in order that you may under•
stand, let me give you first the place,
where the great EJXperlment was tried
in Posey County, Indiana,
Owen in 1824 came to this land of
nowhere. He tells us that, after rldlng
for days through, the trackless wllderness, guided only by blazed trails he
suddenly came to a place wher1;1 the
forests disappeared and there opened
before him a magnificent view, He
says there were crops growing
everywhere, fruit trees, grain and
wheat, and, in the distance, a considerable town. · As he rode through
this open plain he came into the vH
!age with houses built of timber and
brick, In the midst was a big church.
Two large warehouses were there for
storing grain for two years against
the Indians. A mill for sawing the
timber, another mill for making wine
and as handsome an inn as he could
have found anywhere in England. And
after a meal he went out to the edge
of the town where there was a great
wheat field two miles long, All the
grown people of the village were at
work cutting the wheat with scythes
and laying the grain In bundles, When
the sun went down this long line of
p(lople turned and came back Into the
town. The leader walked in front of
them-and the church doors were open.
He lead them Into the church and
mounted the platform. 'rhey filled the
pews. He addressed a few words of
good cheer and encouragement and
hope for the morrow and then dismissed them to their homes. Owen
was deeply impressed with the sterling
characters and good sense of this at-
3
tentive but rather humble audience.
Now, who were these people? For,
in 1824, the major 1mrt of Indiana was
still a wilderness. They were German
refugees. 'l'hey were known as Rappites, later as Economites. I have to
bring before you tonight three socialistic settlements, three socialistic or
communistic settlements and I want
to point out why two of them succeeded
and the third failed.
.When the French dreamed their
great dream of liberation, terminating
in the Revolution, after 1789, they
changed all conditions in France and
then were beset by a great dream
which changed all Europe, You must
remember that the French Revolution
was a world revolution. They soon
conquered the Rhinelands, Switzerland,
Italy and Spain. And that same revolution spread over this land and
changed the whole civilization of Mexico, of Central America and of all the
South American states. A transformation from monarchlal institutions to re1mbllcan institutions In all Latin America was part of the movement of the
French revolution.
The reaction which followed when
Napoleon's brother was taken from his
seat in Spain spread all through the
Rhinelands and the French were
driven out. The little German princelings came back and tried to re-establish the old regime, But though they
could re-establish the old regime politically; they could not re-establish the
014 conditions religiously, The consequence was that hundreds of thousands of people fled from the Rhine. lands, One group led by Rapp, a
strong figure, a very great personality,
crossed the ocean and landed in Philadelphia. How they made their way
from Philadelphia to the waters of the
Ohio, I do 1iot know. Tonight If you
leave ·Philadelphia at this time, you
would ride all night on a flying express
and anlve at Pittsburg only in time
for breakfast. It Is 350 miles across
forests and over mountains but in some
.manner they transpo,.•tn,d thernselvel:I
there. They built a flat boat and sailed
down the Ohio and up the Wabash and
stopped on this patch of land of 30,000
acres of forests. 'l'hey built their village, planted their fields, made a garden. This Is among the marked experiments in successful socialism.
Now why did they succeed? 1ror this
reastJ11. They were absolutely united.
They were absolutely unitecl. 1r1rst.
They were of one birth and had. the
~ame blood In their veins. They had
eaten the same kind of food; had the
•._, in he,
:ns pro
ogethe1
e is th,
nore I
are fai
l of eii
ing so
1da of
i breed
d by a1
r.tunatt
nding
ced al'
grou
for al
,of Oll
ver fa
e othe1
ve giv,
'nook
I
!
C0111I
he int,
lre nc
nent f
' priva
IUSt al
r
t
i,,
'
.
:,,gs" in Boston, of wltich the fifth a1111ive1:sary has just been celebra!ed, are, tlte mos/
11 1; 011 of tltat city, brb1gi11g into sy111patltetic fe/lowsltip a more comprelte11siv.e repre- ,
1
ature than meets /ogether elsewhere in the New Engla11d 111etropo/1s:, And
111111011 11
tile 11 ,411 d wl1ich leads a11d, 1'Ca~!, governs those gather~11gs:' A_11d as here, ~/early,
' 1vllich conceives ~p I
m1Pl&s
• u.... ac ct1l·t1111toltHQ ◄-fl:rl:h◄lttt941:&m:SflUd[a1:ihL-----------l!lilllill-lld
.,1
w~ shall alt "gl
1us a sta teinentj
ers of the decl
t "we must all J
o means are al
Our Americal
heterogeneous.
us into many ch
ulling us all tof
the stronger bej
our destructio(
constitution an
Less and less";
covers a wide l
11' anything ab
hich are either
110 COl111110n 111
•r, but do not 1
ts are widely
Baptists, Chri
lemocrats, Pro
,11 ly for bitter
housed under
class is comt
ither. The ric
,cnt streets an,
lo with each 'c
nr, naturally d
i,
I
l>een so and
lo turn Christ
rch? Are al
;1ch a com111011
1·e w~i tins- iot
is the world
:jsintegration,;
oday Inadeq~
elements h~
life. Th,
: the free pu
press, with\
which have!
,g elements
2;
1111
a
:omplex tha~
c centers ,am
11ities. The,,
I, is still our
dth the ma1
r its ministr
1ncratic idea',
lives are pl
And our
only 111irro1
·cad the jou
religion al
who take th
· man's clas
:e a sociali!
a yellow j
ous in its id
1
FORD HALL FOLKS
4
same kind of customs and costumes.
They celebrated same: kinds of rites
for birth, marriage and death. They
were of the same thought;, they sang
the same songs. More than this, they
were bonnd together by the two things
thar unite men above all other things
iu this world. First they had undergone persecution; they had left their
homes, given up their property, destrted their fathers and landed on a
strange continent, cnt down the va,st
forest and built themselves a new
home. Such an exJ)erlence drives men
together, mak€s them forget slight differences, forces them back to the practical things they have In common and
makes for brotherhood everywhere. In
lhe second [)lace, they w!lre bound together by the gren t 'leader. Rap[) was
a man of singular [lower, square and
Intelligent. He knew what he wanted
He had the domineering will.
HE
forced his personality upon the people,
establishing his desires.
Then a strange thing hap]Jened.
Rapp determined to desert this village and lead his people once more into
the wilderness. I do not know why.
'I'here seems to be no good reason why
he determined to give u11 this settlement. Possibly he found them under a
condition of prosperity; the 11eople
were developing individual Initiative
and individual will which made it difficult for him to dominate them. Anyway he led the people Into Pennsylvania. One word in conclusion about
this. These people came to own over
$10,000,000 worth of proJ)erty but they
had very few children and the order
gradually died out and not many years
ago, about six, the order was dissolved
and their property divided among those
remaining in the settlement.
My JJlace ls ready now for my man.
He was bom in North Wales. His people were poor. He had nothing. He
says his education was comJ)leted at 7
ye:us old. He could read and write
and· figure a little. At 10 years he
started for London to make his fortune. It Is thought that Garfield and
Lincoln are exceptional men who
climbed to the top. No, I say. All
ov,er the world where children are
born, boys and girls, often very early
in life, start out on their great career.
I never see any Immigrants from the
old lands without feeling that here
among these children we have plenty
of Garfields and Lincolns, great spirited boys and capable-spirited girls who
might give to the world magnificent
leaders.
Owen starts for London and trudges
most of the way to the great metropo1is. '!'here Ile finds employment first
In a linen store which ls half a liaberdashery. This Is important. For here,
as assistant in this small dry goods
store he became acquainted with fabrics, he came to know the woolens and
cotton and silk and derived a kind of
sense of what they_ were and what they
re[)resented. After four or five years
here, he migrated north to Manchester.
In :Manchester he found a man who '
was making wire frames connected
with the spinning industry, He Identified himself with this man and 'subsequently took as part payment, when
the business was dissolved three of
these frames,
The cotton business at that time was
divided and the cotton passed into five
or six different factories , before it
finally came forth as finished cloth. At
19 years of age Owen had three hands
working for him and in a single year
he acquired $1,500.
Then he secured another positioi1 as
superintendent in a factory, whose
owner he persuaded to pay him a
salary equal to what he had earned,
independently,
He built up the business and at the
end of a year it was in a prosperous
condition. At this time he made journeys to the north buying rough thread
and selling fine thread. He went to
Glasgow and on one of these ti•ips he
was introduced by a lady whom he had
known In Manchester ·to a young lady
by the name of Dale. He formed an
admiration for the girl at once. One
of the great forces of his life was coming to play on him. Afterwards he
went there every six months-to Glasgow-for two years and on each trip
he saw Miss Dale. Miss Dale's father
was a very prominent man in Scotland.
He had helped to establish one of the
great banks in Glasgow. He was an
influential man in the Chamber of
Commerce. He was the owner of a
great factory in New Lanark. Owen
did not asJ)lre so high as Miss Dale.
She belonged to a different world from
his. But her friend in Manchester told
him one day that Miss Dale was not
only very fond of him hut that her
heart was disengaged. After that he
sought this friend in Manchester
repeatedly to hear simllar things.
(Laughter.) 'These things were repeated often enough until, Owen says
of himself, "My courage arose agah;st
all posslblllty. I dared to dream sometime of marrying her." Subsequently
he went north with a letter from Mlss
to
:~;:~1~~10-r.,.....h-a=n-d-ed_d_o_w_t_l__
a_nytl~l~g relating ·uiecomtnon e,
9
0
,
;, but they must be evolved
be simply a forum for the airing of views,, It must be, something \
•
be,.,
1110 re than a platform for the making of speeches,,,)t m,ust not h
,st together work out their
ll b I
confined to the spiritual conventions of any rel ll on, , Ut t must e '\ :
shot thr~ugh and through with moral a•.1,d 11plr.1t11.a. ~".rf,.ose .. T~ ':
in all this broad iand where
he either a
~r_!~~~..:. , ,
over in friendly spirit 'our , this encl 1t must
,~'.
Dale and saw
ark. I-le was
slbllitles. He
ners with wh,
Manchester, fo
as a partn<'r,
mills up nort
with him to i
Owen lhon snl
to buy YOIII' \\'
Drinkwater hn,
rll'o too young
hn Ye no cnpltn I
tlernen aro 111.1'
they havo ah111
nro their crod<JI
them 11111I wnH r,
said, "l\lr, Dalo,
worth 7" Dale I
he clld not 1<11011
turlng bt1RlneAR
velop and no R
set for lt. Bui
wlllfng lo leave
-to ow~n who
partners In buy
said, "Well, I an
60,000 pounds ,
fair price. If w,
of 3,000 JlOIIIHh
would be paid
that would he
right," said ,.\-11·.
He was 28 Y<'lll'R
have some quail
to do a thing of
had. not yet h1
great wealth of I
Owen set the prl
buy his mill.
Subsequently I
marry him, I-Ir
fearful that he ,
account of rellg!,
who was an ext
he did not cone
Dale came hack
cannot marn' yr
my father's pern
wl11 get it; I h:
else I want up tc
too."
In a year he
She was a towe1
Whatever failure
were largely om
marriage. His w
did chlldren, con
constancy across
long; life togethe
rich, married to n
Ing In a hanclsom
him to see what l
life. His conscle
asked him: What
only during this
t.
,I
But I clearly recognize that ·while this may be my ideal for such
a meetit1g1 , others will work out quite' different conceptions, It matI -ters little how it' is done so long as ·you succeed in getting together
· fair representation~ of all those who have g~od will and who want
to do something to make it count.
I
Wid~ly· Varying View,i No ·Bar to Profitable Discussion
·There is another very· helpful way in which ·. this interest in the
, com'mon ljfe may be nurtured and promoted. I have foundfrom
· six: years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~f ,guests. at
-'----'--·-'-----,----'~ _J~mv_summer.home at Sagamor~_Beach e_ach season that_ 1~s_p~:,s1ble
necessa
with it
But'
keenest
siste.rs
to higl
fellows
[ woul<
evening
evening
fellows
. . •aitl
'v
FORD HALL FOLKS
s
1·ts for London and trudges
way to the great metropo•
lie finds employment first
tore which is half a lrnber·lis ls important. For here,
in this small dry goods
1·ame acquainted with fabe to know the woolens and
,ii k and derived a kind of
1 t they were and what they
After four or five years
rated north to Manchester.
I er he found a man who
; wire frames connected
1mlng industry. He identiwith this man and subse1, as part payment, when
, was dissolved three of
, business at that time was
the cotton n.assed into five
•rent factories before it
forth as finished cloth, At
1ge Owen had three hands
him and in a single year
/1 ,600,
,('nred another position as
nt in a factory, whose
,ersuaded to pay him a
to what he had earned
y,
JI the business and at the
1r it was in a prosperous
t this time he made jourorth buying rough thread
tine thread, He went to
un one of these ti•ips he
cd by a lady whom he had
nchester ·to a young lady
of Dale. He formed an
i1· the girl at once.
One
mces of his life was comon him. Afterwards he
1ery six months-to Glas, years and on each trip
llale, lVIiss Dale's father
oniinent man ln Scotland.
d to establish one of the
in Glasgow. He was an
inn in the Chamber of
He was the owner of a
in New Lanark, Owen
·e so high as Miss Dale ..
lo a different world from
friend in Manchester told
that Miss Dale was not
1Hl of him but that her
,engaged. After that he
friend in Manchester
i
hear similar things.
These things were reenough until, Owen says
,fy courage arose against
I dared to dream some1· i ng her."
Subsequently
1 with a Jetter from Miss
I
Dale and saw the works ·in New Lanark. He was' Impressed hy their possi bilitles. He went back to the partners with whom he was working in
Manchester, for he had been taken in
as a partner, interested them in the
mills up north and soon they went
with him to · look over those works.
Owen then said to l\fr. Dale, "I want
to buy your works." Dale smiled as
Drinkwater had smiled and said, '.'You
are too young and inexperienced and
have no capital." He said, "These gentlemen are my business partners and
they have abundant capital and here
are their credentials," Dale examined
them and was fairly satisfied, Then he
said, "Mr. Dale, what is your business
worth?" Dale hesitatingly replied that
he did not know. The cotton manufacturing business was beginning to develop and no standard ·price could 'be
set for it. But he said he would be
willing to .Jeave the price to Mr. Owen
-to Owen who was to be one of the
partners in buying the works! Owen
said, "Well, I am inclined to think that
60,000 pounds ($300,000) would be a
fair price. If )Ve paid it in instalments
of 3,000 pounds a year ($15,000) it
would be paid Ju 20 years. I think
that would be a fair price." "All
right," said Mr. Dale, "I will accept."
He was 28 years old then. A man must
have some quality of integrity in him
to do a thing of that nature. But life
had not yet heen disturbed by the
great wealth of the modern period. So
Owen set the price at which he was to
buy his mill.
.
·
Subsequently he asked Miss Dale to
marry him, He was himself already
fearful that he would have trouble on
account of religion and from Mr. Dale;
who was an extremely religious man,
he did not conceal his doubts. Miss
Dale came back to him and said, "I
cannot marry you unless you can get
my father's permission." He said, "I
will get it; I have gotten everything
else I want up to now and I'll get you,
too."
In a year he had won Miss Dale.
She was a tower of strength to him.
Whatever failures he may have made·
were· largely offset by his intelligent
marriage, His wife brought him splendid children, courage, faith, hope and
constancy across all the years of their
Jong: life together. At 28, this man,
:lch, married to a superior woman, llvmg In a handsome house, looked about
him to see what he should do with his
life. His conscience set to work and
aslrnd him: What ls my life work? If
only during this coming week, every
5
man and woman in this hall would say
to himself, how many days have I to
Jive, how many years, what shall I do
to make my life significant!
Before going on to describe Owen's
work in New Lanark I must say that,
until 120 years ago, Elngland was a
great agricultural land. It was a land
of wheat fields, grain fields and small
farms. A good deal of manufacturing
went on, but always in private homes.
There were no factories, 'fhe 18th century saw two inventions which changed_
the nature of the civilization of Elnglancl. These were the invention of the
stationary engine and the cotton gin
for separnting the seed from the cotton fibres. ffingland was successfully
placed to take advantage of these two
inventions. She had only to dig down
lnlo the earth µnd there was plenty of
iron; she hoisted the iron and made it
into stationary engines. Just outside
of the iron was almost inexhaustible
coal. She ~tood the engine outside the
beds of coal and hoisted the coal and
fed the engines and had power to drive
the wheels in industry. All that she
needed was hands. Then began the
great exodus from the farms which
still goes on today, Representatives
of the mills went out oi1 the hillsides
and through the valleys to bid people
come to work in the mills, They offered them svlenclid wages - what
seemed to them like splendid wages,
So they left their little holdings and
came down to spin and make cotton
cloth . for the. ships to carJf all over
ChristeJldom.
\iiThere was no type of factory in existence; the factory town was yet to
be. Suppose I handed yon-each one
of yon here tonight a sheet of paper
and said to you, "Draw me a plan of a
terminal station for an airship route
It will not be long before we shall have
airships all over the United States
with regular routes of call. They will
have terminal stations. Draw me the
architectural plan-outline a sketch of
the way a terminal station will look
for an airship," You would be embarrassed for there is no such thing in the
public mind today. 'l'hat was the state
of mind concerning factories when
Robert Owen took hold of the measure.
'l'he factories used were old barns to
which the people came down from
their cottages and farms. They lived
In old shanties, like a summer encampment just starting, with no sanJ.
taJ:,y conveniences. 'l'hese people were
habituated to individual bargainhig in
terms, of agriculture and they could
not combine. Tiley could not stand
";i
\
O'
COi
si:x
1all' all
statem
the <
must 1
6
111s arc
Ameri
ugenec
) manJ
us all
rongel'
\es true
itution
:in<l le
s a wi
ything
are ei
,1111nor
l <lo I,
e wid·
ists, (
:rats,
for bi
sec! ur
; is C
The
;treets
th ea<
atural
l SO
1m
a
C\'.
Arc
com1
aitin~
hew<
egrati
1
1
Inac
·111ent1
Ii fe.
,c free
·ss, w
,ich h1
lcmen
,plex;
_-nters
l'S,
1
FORD HALL FOLKS
together. There were no laws for. their
• vrodnctlon and there was a firm conviction that there ought to be no ,laws;
that every man should stand alone.
Owe1i set himself to rlgh t these
wrongs, meanwhile turning over his
capital twice a year. Now any man
who can make 200,Yo on his capital
ought to be satisfied. A man ought ~o
be satisfied but it never works that
way. The more a man 1ias the more
he wants and the passion for making
more and more money hacl the English
employers firmly in its grip.
The children in these manufacturing
centres were roaming around the
streets. There was no education In
F.ngland then; state schools did not·
exist in E'ngland until 1870 a11d at' this
time no provisions whatever for the education of these children were made.
At first the wages seemed Immense to
the workers because they h'ad not been
used to having nrnch money. The few
. things they wanted to buy they had
bought by barter largely and they lived
on the products of the farm. The
wages had seemed immense but here
outside the factory where everything
was to be 'bought and paid for the
wages proved inadequate. There was
no way to force these wages up and so
pressure came upon the family. One
day the woman said, 'I can attend to
some of those spindles" and so she
went across with her husband to the
place where he worked and said to the
overseer, "Put me to work. I wlll
work for less than John." Her name
was added to the payroll.
Soon the
dividends Increased and they sent the
men home. Then one day the woman
said to the overseer, "My boy Jim, who
l8 ten years old, can attend to some of
the spindles. He can do something.
He Is better off here than on the street,
put him to work and ·pay him whatever you will." So Jim went on the
payroll and at the end of the month
the overseer .found that a larger income could be derived from children's
work than from the women's work.
~'hen Owen came to New Lanark
he found almost all the women and
children of the town working and literally hundreds of men Idle and wastIng their time. They were at a shop
where liquor was being sold and they
were drinking gin. You see lt was in•
evitable that It should come to that
from the first. It Is inevitable that it
should go on that way now.
This man, 28 years old, rich, Is a
man to right these wrongs. First he
tore down the shanties which were
there and put up cottages and im•
proved the building of the factory. His
were the most remarkable bulldingtl
in the world at. that time, his the ideal
factory town of the age. He put streets
between the houses. He put In lamps
to light the night. 'fhe little shops
sup.plying gin to everyone and selling
all the products at big prices, he closed
up. Two new shops were established
and tlielr profits put Into improving
the village.
'l'hen came the war of 1812 and the
Elmbargo Act. For nine months Eng•
land could get no cotton and for nine
months Robert Owen paid every one
of his employees full wages. The people knew by now wl10 their friend was.
He went ,further. He said, "These
houses are badly kept." Overseers
were apjiointed to look after the social conditions of the village. A man
would come to the door and say,
"Madam, you clean up · your house,
sweep this out; fix this room up." He
went further stHJ-here •Js his philosophy.
He said: A man's life is de•
termlned by circumstances. You take
two children-I do not care where they
are born and put one under good con•
ditions and he will make a good man;
put the other under bad conditions and
he will make a bad man. I know that
Is not true; you know that Is not tru!c',
We all know today that there Is a good
deal in heredity and that when the
parents suffer from disease it Is pretty
sure to affect their ofllspr!ng. But his
philosophy Is the best In the world because, while a reformer cannot change
the Inherited spirit of man very much
he can change his circumstances. His
philosophy said "change the clrcum•
stances and yoti will make all men
good." To emphasize the fact that he
believed he could shape a man' life by
his environment he organized a school.
Then he looked for a schoolmaster 'and
· found In the works a man by the name
of James Buchanan. Wherever this
man went there were to be seen children on his shoulders. So, though he
could barely read and write Owen said,
"Yon shall be the schoolmaster.". Then
he took three young girls and put them
in there to help Btichanan. He said,
"First make these children happy, If
I come here and find a child unhappy
you have .failed. Every child must be
happy, In the second place. Make
· these children love each other and
work together sympathetically and harmoniously." That Is a splendid educational policy. "In the third place,
teach them to love the things around
them, plants, trees and so on, In the
fourth place,-if you ever get to that
; still
1 the,
s mi~
·atic i
•s are
;\n<l
ly mi
,I the
digio1
o tak
1an's
a soc
yello
sin i1
C enclc ,'
.. ' ' ; - - ----~ .thin relating to the"cominciii-life:
sn 2j !) "
0~ ( :
without nor handed down
any . g
£
f r the airing of views, It must be somethrng
but they must be evolved
he simply a olruttfn o for the making of speeches, It niust not be._
•
k
ti1811. more than a p a orm
,
,
together wor out
, itual conventions of any rell gIon, bu t It mus t be , •
1
. .·
confined to t 1 sp1rthrough with moral an d spIrItua1-.pu.rpose. T o \' .
1e d
,
•··
.
1
1
,
· d I
shot t 1roug 1 an
.
I . ;c. •·,· .
,
all tlus broad Ian, ~v !_ere
•
cl 't must not be either a lyceum or_ a ~Cll'!_C~,~~C.::s_;_ ,~
.. _ .. :~ .. t~,:.-.nr1tu "n.u•1f 01tt" . t1
11S en
1
I·
teach them something
(Laughter.) Good edu
Icy. It soon became
John Stuart Mill visit,
borrowed Buchanan a
London and started a
this developed the sch,
British Isles.
·
Now, again you have
communism which s1
Because the people ·
gether by every kind
same descendantS', !iv
villages, intermarried,
toms and same· costnn
and same ceremonies
rlage and death; same
· life.. They were all
too, by the fact that
gone a great transfornculture to industrlalls
fered the same prlvat
they were bound toge
man. Robert Owen p1
will over them. Almo1
the conditions of the R
he succ!:leded.
Then ·he dreamed a
this should extend all
He went 9own to Lon
studied conditions tlie·
like Ford Hall, and a
to come. He mounted ·
experienced speaker I
and spoke straight to
heart. The hall was
seen men who were
meeting. They all tell
This man stood before
"Men and brothers, ye
crush each other. EvE
est Is_ every other ma1
every one of you, II
climb, must climb hr le
others, You can neve
backs of others to any
cant ha:pplness and )
something worth while
climb with others, ho
the hand. It sounds ,
have heard It on this J
ber of times.
But I
years ago. Then, this n
of his journeys to Pn
he had friends and 11
the standing commltte
ulate child labor.
'l'he measure was Ii
commlttee. It was bro
reading and then W(
They said, what "
fcrmed for anyway-ti
terfere with the rlgl
And so Parliament clo
opportunity to any cl
rise.
-13~t°f ~l~;r\~
Tot
· 1·, reco~~i;~-ti;~twhi1e~ this "may b~ }ny i~eal
~;ch --;-;;~ces~a
'\ a meetirtg,,others will work out quite' different,co?ceptlo~s. It ma~with it.
,ters little how it' is done so long as 'you succeed tn getting together
But '
· fair representations of all those who have good will and who want
k_eenest
,
·
·
·
.
s1ste_rs <
.
t 0 h' 1
to do something to make 1t count. · ' · ' . . ,
·
1g 1
:y
. Wid~ly· Varying ViewB No ·Bar 'to Profitable DiBcUBBion
There is another very helpful way in which this interest in the
com'mon life may be nurtured and promoted. I have found ,from
six· years' experience with an ever-increasing group ~£ , guests. at
'truLSummer home at Sagamor~_Beach e.ach season that_1t 1s p~~s1ble
----'-~--'----'---L--'-'-~...L
s
FORD HALL FOLKS
Jrnlldlng of the factory, His
11ost remarkable buildings
I at that time, his the ideal
1 or' the age, He put streets
, houses. He put in lamps
e night. The little shops
iu to everyone and selling
nets at big prices, he closed
e IV shops were established
ll'ofits put into improving
e the war of 1812 and the
:t. For nine months Eng;e t no cotton and for nine
Jert Owen paid every one
Jyees full wages. The peouow who their friend w'as.
nrther. He said, "These
badly kept."
Overseers
1ted to look after the so•
ms of the village. A man
; to the door and say,
)ll clean up your house,
ut; fix tlus room up," He
r still-here 'is his phll·
2 said: A man's life is de·
-circumstances. You take
-I do not care where they
I put one under good conIle wlll make a good man;
· under bad co'nditlons and
J a bad man.
I know that
rou know that is not true.
today that there ls a good
,tlity and th.at when the
r from disease it is pretty
, their offispring. But his•
, the best in the world bea reformer cannot change
spirit of man very much
;e his circumstances. His
aid "change the circumyoti ·will make all men
rnphasize the fact that he
onld shape a man' life by
ent he organized a school.
,•cl for a schoolmaster 'and
worlrn a man by the name
whanan. Wherever this
ere were to be seen chil,houlders. So, though he
·ead and write Owen said,.
the schoolmaster." Then
young girls and put them
1elp Buchanan. He said,
these children happy, if
a]l(J find a child unhappy
,,(l. Every child must be
he second place. Make
·u love each other and
· sympathetically and barThat is a splendid ed11'.\'. "In the third place,
:J love the things around
trees and so on, In the
-if you ever get to that
1
-
teach them something out of books."
(Laughter.) Good education, good pol-'
Icy. It soon became so famous that
John Stuart Mill visited the 1Jlace and
borrowed Buchanan and took him to
London and started a school. Out of.
tl\is developed the schools all over the
British Isles.
·
Now, again you have a ty,pe of social
communism which succeeds.
Why?
Because the people were bound together by every kind of bond; of the
same descendantS', lived in the same
villages, intermarried, of the same customs and same costumes, food, habits
and same ceremoqies of birth, marriage and death; same attitude toward
life. They were all bound together,
too, by the fact that they had undergone a great transformation from agriculture' to Industrialism and had suffered the same privations. Moreover,
they were bound together by a great
man. Robert 1
Owen put his own good
will over them. Almost identical with
the conditions of the Rappltes. And so
he succeeded.
Then he dreamed a dream. He said
this should extend all over the world
He went down to London on a visit;
studied conditions there, hired a hall,
like Ford Hall, and asked the people
to come. He mounted the platform, in
experienced speaker though he was,
and spoke straight to them from his
heart. The hall was packed. I have
seen men who were present at thiF
meeting, They all tell the same story.
This man stood before them. He said,
"Men and brothers, you ought not to
crush each other. Every man's inter•
est is every other man's Interest and
every one of you, if you wish to
climb, must climb by lending a hand tc
others. You can never climb on the
backs of others to any point of signlfi•
cant ha·pplness and you. will reach
something worth while only when you
climb with others, holding them by
the hand. It sounds very good, You
have heard it on this platform a munber of times.
But it was new 100
years ago, Then, this man went on one
of his journeys to Parliament where
he had friends and he Introduced to
the -standing committee a bill to regulate child labor.
The measure was taken up by the
committee. It was brought to the first
reading and then went no further,
They said, what was Parliament
farmed fo1'. anyway-that It should interfere with the right of contract?
And so Parliament closed the door ol
opportunity to any child who would
rise.
fellows!
[ would
evening
evening
fellows!
•~ith
7
One day he called together thousands
of men. He said, "Men and brothers, I
have come into his hall today probably
the 'best-loved man in the British Isles.
I shall go out of this hall the worst
hated man in the British Isles. But It
Is my duty to tell you what I firm]}
and devoutly believe.
I have been
urging you for years to lend a hand
and· help your brothers but we have
failed because you will not act, you
will not co-operate; you will not b.e·
lleve. You have no. faith. And why:
Because you are bound in your minds
and hearts by religion. The priests
have held you down until no man daref
to call his soul his own. ( Appia use.)
You never will be men until you dar, '
stand up and look each other in the
face and see what may be accomplished."
They rose and hissed him and he
was rescued from the hall ]Jy the police
with very great difficulty and taken
back to his lodgings. From that day
·111s usefulness in Tilngland was passed.
Now ladies and gentlemen, I have not
the slightest desire to back these sentiments. As a student of history I am
convinced that no institution in the
world has clone so much for the uplift•.
Ing of humanity as Christianity. But
the Christian church has made many
mistak~s. time and time and time
again. ·'l'he teachings of that greatest
of all leaders, Jesus of Nazareth, have
been misa:pplied repeatedly, as you
know.· This man was willing· to bank
his credit and his life and his standing
upon that truth as he saw it; all glorJ
to lllm for his courageous utterance.
Of course every door of opportunity
closed to him; he was a marked man,
rt would be difficult for a man holding
these views today to keep on In any
ago,
He carrie to America and bought out
tjiat tract of land of'which we spoke a
while ago, 'I'he success of the Rappites
convinced him that he could succeed so
he bought the place and paid for it.
Now the man is ready and the place
Is ready for such an experiment as he
wished to make. I will make its story
brief. It was brief, It lasted only •two
years. First he needed a colony, He
went out through surrounding settl'ements and preached his doctrine of fellowship and good will. He had houses
already made, the land cleared . and
· ware-houses filled with food .for a year.
· Backed by this and his general reputation, the people came flocking. In
six weeks he had 1,000 people-the
flotsam and Jetsam of the frontier,
made up of all nationalities and all
f
nmruwi
fY~~V'Q.V'i'~"~'w
lion of ti,at city, b1-iirgi11b
i,ilo
sy,,ij,dltfitlt
ti
'
,3'+
'
11111 a11 11 at11re than meets together elsewhere in tire New England metropolis:. A11.
1/ie 11 ,i 11 d which leads and really governs those gatherings,
A11d .as here, clearly
0
0
· .....
whicj;. co11c,e1ve,,1, QJAjtL.-tiJ.liMMfillligj,~IJJJ,;J11.,MUA,i.lJJ,,~W;CJ,iU.Uii!l11t1,J.l!!Jla[.!.li!l'11!lJ..W...uJ~~dlo~l.1i1id~a~r.:;.:it~-----•••••--
.,,,.,
we shall alf
,t1s a statett
1
ers' of the '
t "we must 1
i
\
n1eans ar:
Our Ameri
· heterogene< ·
t1s into man)
1ttlling us
the stronger
, our destru<
constitution
"Less and le
covers a wi
ow anything
\\' hich are ei
no commor
1er, but do 11
nts are wid,
,\ Baptists, (
Democrats, :
only for bi.
he housed m1
-h class is c,
e other. The
ferent streets
, do with eac
poor, natural\
10
aq
11·s been so a
to turn Ch
'hurch? Are
reach a comr
, are waitin~
ich is the we
r <lisintegrati;
.is
I
f Today Inad
,{
/
8
FORD HALL FOLKS
schools of thought, · Owen organized
them with great effo1•t and· went back
to England for supvlles. He sold out
all his ]lossesslons and nine months
later returned with what is known as
his "Boat,Joacl of knowledge," and a
great mass of 111aJJS,
Within a few clays, after he came
back, he broug,ht order out of chaos
but he could not maintain it. 'fhe people were idle and divided and, at the
encl of two years, Owen called them
together and told them he had tried an
ex])eriment but had found it could not'
succeed, From that clay the thing was
broken. He wandered out a discredited man.
Yet I maintain that ,he was a marvelous success, What did this man
stand .for? Something more than a
mere existence; som.ethlng more than
equal opportunity for man and woman,
What did he stand for? l<'lrst; for the
belief In human brotherhood, He believed that every llrnn shoulcl lend a
, helJJing hand to every other man, He
believed in absolutely equal OJJJJortunlty for every man, and woman everywhere in the world. He wo11ld give
women exactly the same opportunity
as to men, (Applause.) He believed
In the enlightenment of all our defectives,
He believed that crime was
.either ignorance or disease.
He believed in the enlightened treatmont of
all you,ng children, 'l'hese dreams he
never realized, 'fhey are dreams that
reach on into eternity,
Time is too
short for them, By urging these he
gave opportunity for their development, I was told that when I vl'Slted
New Harmony that I would find socialism l1atecl, I found just the contrary,
I found about 2,000 people there, It
was one of the neatest, cleanest and
handsomest towns I have ever seen, I
fonnd in this town a library with a
paid librarian, I found In addition to
this an art gallery of which any city
might be well proud of. In It was 300
handsome oil painting given by Murphy who came over amongst the first
settlers. I fonnd an 01iera house where
vast theatrical ]lerformances were •presented, I found three societies; one
for mutual insurance; another for mu•
tual benefit and another for town planning that. Owen started originally,
Moreover, Owen left children who were
of great service to the world, Now
man could not be blamed if his sons
to
went wrong but when a man has sons
and all of them go right there must be
something pretly good in that family,
Owen had four sons. They were all
educated men and all lived to do hlm
honor, By reason of them as well 'as
because of his Ideals his life stands out
a glorious success. (Applause.)
A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS.
Q, Is there any doubt that Robert
Owen would have been a Socialist?
A, Robert Owen's teachings are
proving to be .socialism, He ls recognized everywhere as one of the fathers
of our modern social science and so
ultimately would be one of the fathers
of socialism. If I may add a word I
would say that. Robert Owen would
have been a very sympathetic follower
of John Spargo, (Applause.)·
Q, How can we have strictly equal
opportunity and not have competition?
A, Read Spargo's book Practical
,I JJJ)licati.on of Socla.lisni.
You will
find it a most entertaining and charming treatment of the subject. He main•
talns that under socialism there would
be a very large degree of indlvjclual
freedom.
Q, Does the speaker think that Robert Owen's Ideal of equal opportunity
can be practised under our present system?
A. In some cases it can be practised
pretty well, Our present system gives
some peo11le remarkable freedom; on
the other hand the great mass of the
industrial workers·· today are chained
uncler conditions even less favorable,
than in 'Owen's time,
Q, Isn't the Church taking the same
posit1011 today that It took In the days
of Owen regarding Socialism, Woman's Suffrage, etc.?
A, No, I would like to see Woman's Suffrage brought in tomorrow.
And, It Is wrong to say that the Catholic church Is altogether opposed to it,
In regard to Socialism: I can bring
you Christian ministers on this ·plat•
form who will present a scheme of society that every extreme socialist In
this hall would accept,
Q, While J\'lr. Owen was in Indiana
did he try to seek any assistance from
the Legislature?
A, No, he had to r1111 It as an independent colony-lncle]lenclent of everything,
.
·ting element~
life.
·.~ny; the free
free press, wi
rnts which ha
icting elemen\
1te.
1
111d complex t
large centers:
nmunities, 11
chool, is still \
l'le with the I
under its mini
democratic i(
1cir lives are 1
Ying, And <
hich only mi~
\Ve read the j
:s, in religio1'
hose who tak~
other man's q
~81
,11 take a soc\
ly, or a yello1
,ogeneous in it
from the end ,
_ __
_
_
eel from withouniof11filioecl dowil-ITT anyt11111g re1au11g to we comn;10ffl'lul!~t'!'.J11J;1~!
_ 0 1)!1•t1o?1
be simply a forum for the atrlng of views.
someth111g (
others, b ut t Iiey mus t b e evo Ive d
'
k'
£ speecI1es, ..;; It mus t no t b e.
'.
,,
'
• h
k
t th··
more than a platform for the ma 111g o
ple must tog et er wor ou
eir
•
f
11 I -. b t. It
t b ' ·
confined to the spiritual couventt.ons o . any. r··e. g· Qn., .:·u . mus e..
..
place in all this broad land wl~ere
shot through and through with moral and llplrltual purpose, To :
talk over in friendly spirit our . this end it must
be either a lyceum or a· ae
, . ,,
111111011
I
a
'"!~muliFoe'
I
1/
1